botch

Bard would whisper funny lines into my earpiece and I would botch them.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2025

He’ll botch a gig over his annoyance at not being allowed to call a stranger by a pet name she reserves for her closest friend.

From Salon ● Feb. 9, 2024

It was a stunning botch job from a ruthless finisher.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2023

The botch required the rescoring of 300,000 exams, scholastic victims of the knotty coin rotation paradox.

From Scientific American ● Jun. 20, 2023

“We all bite off too much sooner or later. But some students don’t know when to spit their mouthful. They burn out. They quit, or botch their exams. Some crack.”

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

The infinite variables in sports can quickly make many of the bets they are holding nearly worthless, whether it is because a player is severely injured or a team botches a crucial touchdown.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 9, 2026

In China, Xinhua news agency's website ran an article with the headline: "British Navy botches test: Missile crashes into the sea with a 'thud', nuclear submarine hovering underwater".

From BBC ● Feb. 22, 2024

I’d rather cheer for a kooky blockbuster that’s all fiascos, like the midpoint Monty Python-esque sequence where the crew botches the resurrection and interrogation of craggy old corpses.

From New York Times ● Mar. 30, 2023

That may make it easier to get correct answers, but also can make the stakes higher if the AI goofs and makes a user uncomfortable or botches financial data.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 13, 2023

Marked with botches; full of botches; poorly done.

From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages) by Webster, Noah

It was down to 17 two balls later before Procter cleaned up Fuller's off-stump as he tried to cart the ball over mid-wicket and Currie followed two balls later as he botched an attempted ramp.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

Instead, she was left with severe swelling, an open wound and a legal dispute with the surgeon who performed her botched procedure in Kyrgyzstan.

From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026

Because of course, our national 250th birthday celebrations would be botched.

From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026

The association identifies several reasons for the lackluster bookings, including botched planning by FIFA, the World Cup’s governing body.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026

When Bobby was five, a botched operation on his appendix nearly killed him.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown

“Governments in developing economies are botching the job far too often, but not because industrial policy itself is the wrong choice,” wrote Gill.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026

Disney has won a boardroom battle against critics who had accused the media giant of botching its streaming strategy and losing its creative spark.

From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2024

And once you do, how do you avoid botching up the installation?

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 28, 2024

Michigan won despite losing an early fumble that led to a touchdown, botching an extra-point attempt, missing a field-goal try, and failing on a couple of really dumb trick plays.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 1, 2024

A number of his colleagues quietly waited for the day when he would fall flat on his face by botching something important.

From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson