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.

"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

“If we screw up and can’t fix it, we should fail, and other companies will continue on doing good work and servicing customers,” Altman wrote in a lengthy X post.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 6, 2025

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

I screw up big-time, as Denise points out with what is now obvious malice, and have to do the downstairs all over again.

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