screw up meaning

UK /skruː ʌp/ US /skru ʌp/ 2 syllables

screw up (verb): make more intense.

screw up has 4 meanings in this dictionary.

screw up as a verb

  1. make more intense
    • Emotions were screwed up

    Synonyms: heat up, hot up

    Type of: intensify

  2. 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

    Synonyms: botch, bodge, bumble, fumble, botch up, muff, blow, flub, ball up, spoil, muck up, bungle, fluff, bollix, bollix up, bollocks, bollocks up, bobble, mishandle, louse up, foul up, mess up, fuck up

    Type of: fail

    Related forms: screwup

  3. screw or turn higher

    Type of: screw

  4. twist into a strained configuration
    • screw up one's face

    Type of: grimace

How to pronounce screw up

screw up is pronounced /skruː ʌp/ in British English and /skru ʌp/ in American English. It has 2 syllables.

More about screw up on Wikipedia.