Did you know?

Click any word in a definition or example to find the entry for that word

screw up - thesaurus entry

Close

What are red words?

90% of the time, speakers of English use just 7,500 words in speech and writing. These words appear in red, and are graded with stars. One-star words are frequent, two-star words are more frequent, and three-star words are the most frequent.

phrasal verb

Related thesaurus entries

  1. 1
    very informal to make a serious mistake, or to spoil something, especially a situation

    American English synonyms or related words for this sense of screw up

  2. 3
    if you screw up your eyes, you close them tightly

    American English synonyms or related words for this sense of screw up

  3. 4
    to make something into a smaller shape by squeezing or twisting it

    American English synonyms or related words for this sense of screw up

See also main entry: screw

charticle

a news article that consists of a chart … and only has a small amount of text

BuzzWord Article

Word of the Day

picture messaging

the sending of images and photographs from one mobile phone to another

Open Dictionary

never event

an event that should never occur in a healthcare setting …

add a word

Blog

A must for anyone with an interest in the changing face of language. The Macmillan Dictionary blog explores English as it is spoken around the world today.

global English and language change from our blog