mess up — make untidy
phrasal verbB1IELTS 5+informalcommon
To make something disorganized or dirty; to make a place or thing messy.
Say it like a native
Textbook The children disarranged the entire living room.
Native The kids messed up the whole living room.
'Mess up' is the natural verb for making a place untidy; 'disarrange' is rare and formal.
Pattern: mess (something) up / mess up (something)
In use
- The kids messed up the living room with their toys.daily life
- When I share a room with my brother, he always messes up my side and it drives me crazy.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ Don't mess up with my desk.
✓ Don't mess up my desk.
'Mess up' + the place (no 'with'). ('Mess with' = interfere — a different meaning.)
Common collocations
mess up + place/thing— the room, your hair, the bed, my papers
Don't confuse it
'Mess up' means to make untidy, while 'clean up' means to make tidy.
Related
- mess up (make a mistake) — Another meaning of 'mess up' is 'make a mistake'; compare the examples to keep the meanings separate.