screw up

Học thuật
Thân thiện
Definition

  1. Verb (transitive):

    • To twist or contort into a strained or unnatural configuration: To cause something, especially a part of the body like the face, to become tightly twisted or wrinkled.
    • To make a mess of, destroy, or ruin: To handle a situation, task, or opportunity so poorly that it results in failure or damage.
    • To make more intense: To increase the level of intensity, tension, or emotional charge of a situation.

  2. Verb (intransitive):

    • To make a serious mistake or to fail completely: To perform very poorly or to cause a plan to fail.
Usage Examples

  • Verb (transitive):

    • The bright light made him screw up his eyes. (He twisted his eyelids tightly together.)
    • I really screwed up the presentation by forgetting my notes. (I ruined the presentation.)
    • The constant arguments screwed up the tension in the office. (The arguments intensified the bad feelings.)

  • Verb (intransitive):

    • If you don't concentrate, you'll screw up. (You will make a serious error.)
    • The new software update screwed up and deleted my files. (The update failed catastrophically.)
Advanced Usage
  • "to screw up one's courage": To force oneself to be brave, to gather one's nerve.
    • He screwed up his courage and asked for a raise.
Variants and Related Words
  • Screw-up (noun): A blunder or a serious mistake.
    • Missing the flight was a major screw-up.
  • Screwed up (adjective): Describing something that is ruined, malfunctioning, or chaotic; or a person who is emotionally troubled.
    • The plan is completely screwed up now.
    • He had a screwed up childhood.
Synonyms
  • Botch: To carry out a task badly.
  • Ruin: To destroy or severely damage.
  • Contort: To twist or bend out of its normal shape.
  • Intensify: To become or make more intense.
Related Phrasal Verbs
  • Screw up is itself a phrasal verb. Its meanings are covered in the definitions above.
Related Idioms
  • "Screw up your face": To twist your facial features, often due to disgust, pain, or concentration.
    • She screwed up her face at the taste of the medicine.
Verb
  1. twist into a strained configuration
    • screw up one's face
  2. screw or turn higher
  3. make a mess of, destroy or ruin
    • I botched the dinner and we had to eat out
    • the pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movement
  4. make more intense
    • Emotions were screwed up

Từ đồng nghĩa

Từ gần giống

Từ chứa "screw up"

Từ có nhắc đến "screw up"