goof up

See also: goof-up

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Verb

goof up (third-person singular simple present goofs up, present participle goofing up, simple past and past participle goofed up)

1. (slang) To make a mistake.

   If I go near a skateboard, I'm sure I'm just going to goof up and fall off.

2. (transitive, slang) To introduce problems to or damage through incompetence.

   I tried to fix it, but I think I just goofed it up some more.

Usage notes

• The object of the transitive verb comes between "goof" and "up", so "I goofed it up" is correct, and *"I goofed up it" is not.

Synonyms

• cock up (UK), foul up, fuck up (taboo), screw up
• balls up (taboo), bollocks up (UK, taboo), bugger up (UK, taboo) cock up (UK), foul up, fuck up (taboo), mess up, screw up

Derived terms

• goof-up

Translations

to make a mistake

• French: gaffer (fr), gâcher (fr)
• German: vermurksen (de), verpfuschen (de)
• Swedish: tabba sig (sv), dabba sig (sv), klanta sig (sv)