Definition of messy

Definition of messy from Dictionary.com, the world’s leading online source for English definitions, pronunciations, word origins, idioms, Word of the Day, and more.

messy


[

mes

-ee ]


/ ˈmɛs i /


Save This Word!


See synonyms for:


messy


/


messiness


on Thesaurus.com


adjective,


mess·i·er,


mess·i·est.


characterized by a dirty, untidy, or disordered condition:

a messy room.


causing a

mess

:

a messy recipe; messy work.


embarrassing, difficult, or unpleasant:

a messy political situation.


characterized by moral or psychological confusion.

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Origin of


messy

First recorded in 1835–45;

mess

+

-y

1

OTHER WORDS FROM messy


mess·i·ness,


noun

Words nearby

messy

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Words related to

messy

Example sentences from the Web for

messy

It was clear that Apple’s antiquated App Store rules needed an update, but now that we see their solution, it’s clear that things are going to be very

messy

for platform operators and game developers that were hoping for an easy solution.


Apple lays out its messy vision for how xCloud and Stadia will work with its App Store rules



|

Lucas Matney



|

September 11, 2020



|

TechCrunch

These soft, elegant towels can go up against even the messiest food spills.


Dish towels to tackle almost any mess



|

PopSci Commerce Team



|

September 10, 2020



|

Popular Science

What you usually get is

messy

, frustratingly slow progress, and self-doubt about your own voice and skills.


Book recommendations from Fortune’s 40 under 40 in government and policy



|

Rachel King



|

September 10, 2020



|

Fortune

The formula for these points was quite

messy

, but if you’d like to see it nevertheless, check out the write-ups of Laurent Lessard, who found a condition on these values, and David Zimmerman, who attempted to find a closed-form solution.


Can You Cover The Globe?



|

Zach Wissner-Gross



|

August 28, 2020



|

FiveThirtyEight

The battle to secure as many vaccine doses as possible, once approved, could prove an even messier fight given that a limited number of companies are trying to address the problems of the entire world.


The COVID vaccine arms race and the struggles of the supply chain



|

Sy Mukherjee



|

August 20, 2020



|

Fortune

If you think divorce between two people is

messy

and traumatic, imagine divorcing yourself.


Why Singles Should Say ‘I Don’t’ to The Self-Marriage Movement



|

Tim Teeman



|

December 30, 2014



|

DAILY BEAST

But there is a

messy

middle territory between demonization and idealization.


The 2014 Novel of the Year



|

Nathaniel Rich



|

December 29, 2014



|

DAILY BEAST

THE NEW YORK TIMES/JILL ABRAMSON DISASTER: It was

messy

enough when, on May 14, New York Times Co.


The Bloodiest Media Coups of 2014



|

Lloyd Grove



|

December 22, 2014



|

DAILY BEAST

In another, they sit smiling inside their Los Angeles apartment at a

messy

kitchen table.


‘All Good Cretins Go to Heaven’: Dee Dee Ramone’s Twisted Punk Paintings



|

Melissa Leon



|

December 15, 2014



|

DAILY BEAST

Their inevitable divorce was

messy

, bitter, and packed with bizarre occurrences.


Borges Had A Genius For Literature But Not Love Or Much Else



|

Allen Barra



|

October 24, 2014



|

DAILY BEAST

I can’t bear ugly,

messy

places; above all,

messy

, untidy places make me perfectly cross and miserable.’


Robin Redbreast



|

Mary Louisa Molesworth

There used to be a very

messy

, rocky desert here, and we used to have to scrabble and scratch our way to the monument.


The Colors of Space



|

Marion Zimmer Bradley

There was something so

messy

about dish-washing, ordinary dish-washing; milk-pans were different.


The Camerons of Highboro



|

Beth B. Gilchrist

Fishing seemed a

messy

business—an uncouth trade among uncouth men.


The Viking Blood



|

Frederick William Wallace

I did write out my translations on an extra paper first, for I didnt want to make any erasures and have a

messy

paper.


Betty Lee, Freshman



|

David Goodger (goodger@python.org)


British Dictionary definitions for

messy


messy


/ (

ˈmɛsɪ

) /


adjective


messier


or


messiest


dirty, confused, or untidy

Derived forms of messy



messily

,

adverb




messiness

,

noun

Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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