How to Use screwup in a Sentence

screwup

1 of 2 noun
Definition of screwupnext
Synonyms for screwupnext
  • She's a screwup who can't hold down a job.
  • That was a major screwup.
  • The Raiders will rue the Carr screwup, and maybe complain that the refs and the league are out to get ‘em.
    — Scott Ostler, SFChronicle.com, 20 Oct. 2019
  • The whole thing was filmed in one session, screwups and all.
    — Elise Taylor, Vogue, 15 Aug. 2017
  • But a screwup on the scale of Alex Jones’ lawyers is a whole other matter.
    — Wired, 5 Aug. 2022
  • That’s the kind of screwup-trifecta that can wake a person up to this fact.
    — Carolyn Hax, The Mercury News, 18 Sep. 2019
  • That's the kind of screwup-trifecta that can wake a person up to this fact.
    — Carolyn Hax, oregonlive, 18 Sep. 2019
  • In a screwup, the phosphorus exploded not over the target but over the men.
    — Richard Brod, The New Yorker, 11 Aug. 2021
  • How did the chicken chain manage to stay beloved despite the order screwups?
    — Danielle Wiener-Bronner, CNN, 17 June 2023
  • His slow horses come in every type, and they got kicked out of the service for every imaginable screwup.
    — Jill Lepore, The New Yorker, 28 Nov. 2022
  • But, the film’s emotional stakes come not from any big plot reveal, but from the performance of Emilia Clarke as Kate, the lovable screwup at the center of the tale.
    — David Sims, The Atlantic, 6 Nov. 2019
  • What did the doctor say about always blaming other people for your screwups?
    — Glenn Eichler, The New Yorker, 31 Mar. 2017
  • Gabe is a bit of a screwup — though Diana uses more colorful language to describe him.
    — Matthew J. Palm, orlandosentinel.com, 16 Sep. 2019
  • There have been screwups on the field, questionable decisions from the managers, the usual foibles that have critics pointing the fingers of blame.
    — Bruce Jenkins, San Francisco Chronicle, 31 Oct. 2017
  • The screwup leaves two fully functioning satellites in the wrong, worthless orbit.
    — Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, 25 Oct. 2022
  • Back in Paris, Julien capitalizes on Emily’s screwup and absence to get into Pierre’s good graces.
    — Jessica Goldstein, Vulture, 22 Dec. 2021
  • Eventually Nance pointed to Okoro on the bench and then Nance tapped his own chest, admitting his screwup.
    — Chris Fedor, cleveland, 17 Mar. 2021
  • Even the president is said to have worried about the beating the young pair, especially his beloved daughter, have taken in the press for their screwups and failures.
    — The Editors Of Gq, GQ, 22 Feb. 2018
  • Samsung is on an apology tour for the gobsmacking screwup that...
    — Joanna Stern, WSJ, 22 Jan. 2017
  • Right now, though, the simplest explanation seems like the most persuasive one: Epstein wanted out, and a series of screwups allowed him to beat the system, again.
    — John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 12 Aug. 2019
  • But Coco is a loveable screwup who can rescue people and animals in ways only a kitty could.
    — Misha Berson, The Seattle Times, 5 May 2017
  • The story of a 1917 flu pandemic may well go down as a Trump classic, a pointless and unnecessary screwup that is also very telling about the President.
    — Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 30 Apr. 2020
  • Risian’s coach, realizing that death was the likely outcome of this screwup, floated motionless at the surface, gazing at the safety divers, who were too stunned to blink.
    — James Nestor, Outside Online, 25 Jan. 2012
  • The county question arises from yet another screwup by county government, the failure to pay more than 1,000 bills.
    — cleveland, 29 Feb. 2020
  • The project—and tight-fisted Congress—probably can't handle more cleaning solvent screwups.
    — Eric Niiler, WIRED, 27 June 2018
  • Miazga meanders in his analysis but his takeaway is simple enough: both Byrnes and Legg were screwups.
    — Justin Nobel, Longreads, 5 Sep. 2017
  • Ji-Yoon meets with poor Lila, who is getting hounded by reporters about Bill’s screwup, which endangers her own academic future.
    — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 20 Aug. 2021
  • His solar sail project, named Cosmos 1, has faced months of bureaucratic hassles and technical screwups before even breaking the waves.
    — Evan Ratliff, WIRED, 1 Dec. 2001
  • Staged mostly in dank basements and empty parking lots, the film follows Scott (Davidson), a screwup in his mid-20s with vague aspirations of being a tattoo artist and who still lives with his mother (Marisa Tomei).
    — David Sims, The Atlantic, 11 June 2020
  • Case Keenum serving as the Browns’ starting quarterback this season, or anything that once again punches fans in the gut or sabotages what should be a winning season, then this goes down as a colossal franchise screwup.
    — Doug Lesmerises, cleveland, 18 Mar. 2022
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screw up

2 of 2 verb
  • Guys screw up in the NFL all the time — just look at the draft.
    — David Furones, sun-sentinel.com, 3 Aug. 2019
  • Here are the CEOs who screwed up bad enough to rise to the top of my 2019 naughty list.
    — Adam Feuerstein, STAT, 17 Dec. 2019
  • The video makes clear that there are a number of ways to screw up.
    — David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 25 Nov. 2023
  • So much effort to go through, and such a small detail to screw up in the end.
    — Gideon Lewis-Kraus, WIRED, 18 June 2018
  • The first: that the city of Miami screwed up and now wants the media not to do its job.
    — Angela Helm, The Root, 4 Nov. 2017
  • But that’s far from the only way to screw up an election.
    — Star Tribune, 14 Aug. 2020
  • Otherwise, the rest of the outfit has been screwed up since 1997.
    — Nate Davis, USA TODAY, 16 Apr. 2020
  • Middle school was a safe place, for the most part, for kids to screw up and learn how not to do it again the next time.
    — Washington Post, 9 May 2022
  • Whiff on the sixth overall selection, and the Colts screwed up.
    — Gregg Doyel, Indianapolis Star, 17 Mar. 2018
  • The whole system is screwed up, and no one has any idea how to fix it, so it’ll be done away with.
    — Richard Mann, Field & Stream, 1 Aug. 2019
  • Prisons are a catchall for people who are born screwed and go on to screw up.
    — Eve MacSweeney, Vogue, 27 Apr. 2018
  • The second sure way to screw up a pitch is marketers that manage the pitch on their own.
    — Avi Dan, Forbes, 16 June 2022
  • How will the sports leagues screw up this Supreme Court decision?
    — Sam Mellinger, kansascity, 15 May 2018
  • But leave it to the kiddos to screw up an otherwise sound plan.
    — Richard Rys, Vulture, 10 Oct. 2021
  • This version of Sakamoto winces and screws up his face just as the real one did.
    — Max Lakin, New York Times, 25 June 2023
  • This woman has screwed up my life three ways to Sunday.
    — Audrey Conklin, Fox News, 29 Nov. 2023
  • The White House screwed up the titles of foreign leaders and their countries.
    — David Nakamura, Washington Post, 21 Mar. 2018
  • The pricing screw up occurred in India when the game listing went live on the Epic Game Store.
    — Matthew Humphries, PCMAG, 17 Aug. 2022
  • And barrier-breakers are sure to get knocked around and screw up.
    — Washington Post, 18 Oct. 2021
  • Sometimes the maps are wrong, because tall buildings tend to screw up GPS.
    — David Pierce, WSJ, 13 Mar. 2018
  • The Trump-Mueller meeting hasn't even taken place yet and Trump already has screwed up.
    — Jeff Darcy, cleveland.com, 28 Jan. 2018
  • The Broncos were too screwed up seven years ago for Little Shanny to kiss the sky here.
    — Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 2 Feb. 2024
  • For somehow managing to screw up what should be a very good thing.
    — Nick Canepa Columnist, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Nov. 2020
  • So Question One is, what happens when Sam Bee screws up?
    — Recode Staff, Recode, 28 June 2018
  • What should well-off parents know about how money can screw up kids?
    — David Marchese, New York Times, 14 Nov. 2021
  • Boulware was worried that the White House might release the data and screw up his chances with the journal.
    — Adam Rogers, Wired, 11 Nov. 2020
  • How will injuries screw up this year's All-NBA ballots?
    — Ben Golliver, SI.com, 16 Mar. 2018
  • Here’s hoping the Cowboys don’t screw up their draft rating too much.
    — Dallas News, 12 Dec. 2020
  • Well, this all sounds complicated and easy to screw up.
    — Cam Wolf, GQ, 18 May 2018
  • So, all signs point to them having a boy, unless someone screwed up the release.
    — The Editors, Marie Claire, 8 Oct. 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'screwup.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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