messed

Messed is the past tense and past participle of the verb mess. It denotes causing something to become dirty, disordered, or in a worse condition, as well as describing something that has become dirty or disordered. In everyday use, it covers a spectrum from accidental clutter to deliberate ruin.

Common usages include transitive and intransitive forms. As a transitive verb, it can mean to spoil or ruin something, as in “I messed the recipe up” or “They messed up the arrangement.” Intransitively, it can describe becoming dirty or disordered, as in “The room got messed after the party.” The phrase messed up is widely used to indicate serious error, damage, or emotional distress, e.g., “The project got messed up” or “She felt really messed up about the situation.”

Messed is also used in several phrasal verbs. Mess with means to interfere with or bother someone or something. Mess around can mean to waste time, to engage in aimless activity, or to explore casually. Mess up is a frequent cautious form for ruining plans or outcomes. The adjective form “messed up” and related expressions are common in informal speech and writing, though some uses may carry strong or negative connotations.

Etymology traces the verb to the sense of creating disorder from the noun mess, a term with long-standing use in English to describe clutter, disorder, or a mixture. The noun mess also has senses referring to a dining group or facility, such as a mess hall, distinct from the verbal sense discussed here.