fuck-up

Note: This page may contain content that is offensive or inappropriate for some readers.

fuck up

1. verb, rude slang To ruin or damage something; to mess up something. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "fuck" and "up." The threat of a hurricane really fucked up our vacation plans! Boy, you really fucked this engine up. When was the last time you got your oil changed? I fucked up my knee in practice last night so I won't be able to play on Saturday.
2. verb, rude slang To make a mistake; to mess up. I think I fucked up by putting it in the oven too soon. You fucked up, Dave. Just admit and we can all move on.
3. verb, rude slang To fail or malfunction. The printer fucked up last night so I still haven't printed my report.
4. noun, rude slang A person who is a complete failure or rarely does anything right. In this usage, the phrase is usually hyphenated. I admit that after college I was kind of a fuck-up. I finally got my act together in my thirties, though.
5. noun, rude slang A mistake. In this usage, the phrase is usually hyphenated. It was one little fuck-up, and I got kicked out of school. It's so unfair. This is not just a fuck-up, Brad—this could ruin your whole life!
6. verb, rude slang To cause someone significant injury by physically attacking them, as with punches and other blows. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "fuck" and "up." The captain of the football team said he'd fuck me up if he caught me talking to his girlfriend again.
See also: fuck, up
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

fuck-up

1. n. a mess; a hopeless hodgepodge. (Taboo. Usually objectionable.) When you went home yesterday, you left behind a first-class fuck-up. Now you can clean it up.
2. n. someone who does everything wrong; someone who messes everything up. (Taboo. Usually objectionable.) Poor Willie is such a fuck-up. What a mess he has made.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • add in
  • (you) wanna make something of it?
  • all right
  • add on
  • a/the feel of (something)
  • (I) wouldn't (do something) if I were you
  • a straw will show which way the wind blows
  • a crack at (someone or something)
  • (do) (you) want to make something of it?
  • all for the best
References in periodicals archive
When he first meets Theo at the funeral after a long separation, he condescends, looking down his aquiline nose at his "fuck-up" brother.
The dialogue between soldiers in not censored for politically correct civilian sensibilities, and when things went wrong, the author is not hesitant to point out the "fuck-ups."
Legend has it the pipemaster himself babysat the crew as they installed the pipe and capsule, preventing the usual fuck-ups and sloppiness.
There were two main fuck-ups you made that saved me.
Lonergan's protagonists are aware that their parents' money gives them the mileage to be "fuck-ups," but they also know that they are running out of excuses.
& the other fuck-ups while explaining where tormented
And there's just like a lot of "fuck-ups" or whatever.
The monumental fuck-ups of the TV networks in misreporting the Bush-Gore election results.
They traverse the artistic pathway Jim Morrison was bent on blowing out, and they don't even have to act like fuck-ups to do it.