as in fumbled
to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way
you've bollixed up the whole thing
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bollixed (up)
Verb
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Ball security The Hurricanes have fumbled the ball four times in the past two games and lost two of them — one apiece by Malachi Toney (first round against Texas A&M) and Fletcher (quarterfinal against Ohio State).—
Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 7 Jan. 2026
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Kennedy fumbled in his pocket and pulled out his phone, the source of the noise.—
Verb
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Princely Umanmielen sat at his locker in complete silence, still in his full uniform, roughly 30 minutes after the final whistle blew on Saturday.—
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Green Bay blew a 21-6 lead in the fourth quarter of a wild 31-27 loss to the Chicago Bears in the wild-card round of the playoffs on Saturday night.—
Verb
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The often abrasive Atlas even agrees with June that older generations have screwed up the world for their kids.—
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In a world of near-constant conference realignment and the transfer portal, the annual Red River Rivalry game at the State Fair of Texas is one of the few things the sport hasn’t screwed up.—
Verb
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McKenzie and Sebastian's decision to embrace the unexpected made their wedding even better when an opposite reaction to the rain could have ruined the whole celebration.—
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But becoming the operator ruined the magic.—
Verb
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The company aims to scale up its distribution footprint and leverage its physical stores — dubbed Alo Sanctuaries — not just as transactional spaces but hubs for community-building experiences.—
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But this week, the unwelcome house guest, dubbed Yellow 2120 by researchers, finally got his formal eviction notice.—
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Cite this Entry
“Bollixed (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bollixed%20%28up%29. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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