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louse up

UK/ˈlaʊs ˈʌp/

verb

To mess up; to confuse; to put into a state of disorder.

Similar

botch bodge bumble fumble botch up muff blow flub

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Meanings

verblouse up (third-person singular simple present louses up, present participle lousing up, simple past and past participle loused up)

present singular third person louses up · participle present lousing up · participle past loused up · past loused up

colloquialidiomaticTo mess up; to confuse; to put into a state of disorder.
The recent flu epidemic that loused up all my plans to see Pat Bond.
1980 April 12, Nancy Walker, “Parents and Friends of Gays”, in Gay Community News, page 12
1 more example
To be loused up by Humbolt was really a kind of privilege. It was like being the subject of a two-nosed portrait by Picasso, or an eviscerated chicken by Soutine.
1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 3
USinformalTo mistreat (someone).

Synonyms & antonyms

verbmake a mess of, destroy or ruin

Similar

botch bodge bumble fumble botch up muff blow flub screw up ball up spoil muck up bungle fluff bollix bollix up bollocks bollocks up bobble mishandle

Broader

fail go wrong miscarry

Also see

ball up blow bobble bodge bollix bollix up bollocks bollocks up botch botch up bumble bungle flub fluff fumble mess up mishandle muck up muff screw up spoil

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Translations

Finnish sotkea

sotkeato mess up

Cite this entry

APA

louse up. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/louse%20up

MLA

“louse up.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/louse%20up. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “louse up,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/louse%20up.

Source: louse up on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.