screw up

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

No one can focus on how the Giants and Jets will screw up their picks in the NFL draft.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026

"I was able to screw up as a teenager and not have it filmed and amplified all over the place."

From BBC • Feb. 7, 2026

In other words: “We screwed up, but we can screw up better.”

From MarketWatch • Oct. 27, 2025

Forget throwing soup on the “Mona Lisa” — the Bezos wedding protesters might do something truly offensive: They are threatening to screw up traffic on the big day.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 23, 2025

No one will go hungry or die or be hurt if I screw up; in fact, how would anyone ever know if I screwed up, given the customers’ constant depredations?

From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich