fuck up
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈfʌkˌʌp/
ipa: /ˌfʌkˈʌp/
rhymes: (verb) -ʌp
Forms: form: fucks up
form: fucking up
form: fucked up
form: fucked up
form: fuck-up
Senses: examples: text: You really fucked up this time.
text: Don't you fuck up again.
text: When I was in my 20s and writing my first book—I know, I really fucked up there[.]
ref: 2023, Thomas Chatterton Williams, “The People Who Don’t Read Books”, in The Atlantic:
synonyms: word: screw up
word: mess up
word: blow it
word: bobble
word: boob
word: crap up
word: drop a bollock
word: drop the ball
word: err
word: flub
word: flub up
word: foul up
word: fuck up
word: goof
word: goof up
word: make a mistake
word: mess up
word: misdo
word: misstep
word: put a foot wrong
word: screw up
word: slip up
word: stuff up
word: stumble
word: trip over the wire
word: trip up
glosses: To make a mistake, to go wrong.
examples: text: I fucked up question 3 of the exam.
text: Don't fuck up your arcade game.
text: Tyrion is made to be a strategic fool. I haven’t been as hard on this aspect of the season as others, because I buy that Tyrion might overestimate himself in military matters. But face-to-face negotiation with power players in the capital? Now that really is his bread and butter, and after a season of fucking things up in Dragonstone, he once again completely misreads the situation in King’s Landing.
ref: 2017 August 27, Brandon Nowalk, “Game Of Thrones slows down for the longest, and best, episode of the season (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club:
glosses: To botch or make a mess of.
examples: text: I fucked up my knee while running the marathon.
text: I'm about to fuck somebody up for betrayal.
text: They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.
ref: 1971, Philip Larkin, This Be The Verse:
text: Mom and Pop, they will fuck you up
For sure
Love so deep, kills you in your sleep
It's true
ref: 1991, “Sax and Violins”, in Once in a Lifetime – The Best of Talking Heads, performed by Talking Heads:
text: Shame on a nigga who try to run game on a nigga
Wu buck wild with the trigger!
Shame on a nigga who try to run game on a nigga
I'll fuck your ass up!
ref: 1993, “Shame on a Nigga”, in Wu-Tang Clan (music), Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers):
text: He'll fuck you up, yes, God will fuck you up
If you dare to disobey His stern command.
He'll fuck you up, don't you know He'll fuck you up?
So you better do some prayin' while you can.
ref: 2006, “The Hand of the Almighty”, in John R. Butler (music), Surprise!:
text: What are these, hookers? I guess this guy doesn't understand the concept of a hooker. You're supposed to fuck her, not fuck her up.
ref: 2010, 16:51 from the start, in Action 52 (NES) - Angry Video Game Nerd (AVGN), James Rolfe (actor):
synonyms: mar
glosses: To injure or damage badly.
examples: text: I really got fucked up on cocaine last night.
ref: 2001 January 16, Joe Eszterhas, American Rhapsody, Vintage, →ISBN, page 5:
text: Vodka, Bit says, because it fucks you up fastest.
ref: 2014 July 3, Jess Walter, We Live in Water, Penguin UK, →ISBN:
text: Yeah, well the use of smack, cocaine, and other nasties continues, along with a wide range of designer drugs. […] There's still plenty of shit quality material available to fuck up the youth.
ref: 2015 April 13, Graeme Innes, Platypus Dreaming: ... a prophecy, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN:
glosses: To cause someone to become intoxicated or otherwise alter someone's mental state.
examples: text: They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with their faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.
ref: 1971, Philip Larkin, This Be the Verse:
text: She'd never get the chance to have the proper goodbye to her own husband, and that fucked me up for some reason.
ref: 2018 November 27, Diamond Johnson, Love Me 2, Sullivan Group Publishing, →ISBN:
glosses: To traumatise; to negatively affect the wellbeing of someone.
examples: text: Fuck up, mate! I don't want to listen to you!
glosses: Ellipsis of shut the fuck up.
raw_tags: used only in imperative
Derived terms: fuckupable
fuck-upper
fuckuppery
unfuckupable
Related terms: FUBAR