INDEX:
1. place/room
2. person/clothes/hair
3. to make a place messy
4. when things are spread around in a messy way
RELATED WORDS
opposite
↑ TIDY
see also
↑ DIRTY
◆◆◆
1. place/room
▷ messy also untidy British /ˈmesi, ʌnˈtaɪdi/ [adjective]
if a place is messy or untidy, things have been left carelessly in different parts of it instead of being neatly arranged :
▪ She felt uncomfortable in such a messy house.
▪ He only cleans up his room when it gets really messy.
▪ My desk isn’t always this messy - I’ve been working on a major project.
▪ Jan found the professor in a small, untidy office.
▪ These drawers are so untidy - I can never find what I’m looking for.
▷ be a mess also be in a mess British /biː ə ˈmes, biː ɪn ə ˈmes/ [verb phrase] informal
if a place is a mess or is in a mess, it is very untidy and dirty :
▪ Please sit down. Sorry everything’s such a mess.
▪ My basement is a complete mess and has been for years.
▪ The whole house is in a mess, but I didn’t have time to clean it up.
▷ cluttered /ˈklʌtəʳd/ [adjective]
untidy because there are too many things in a small space :
▪ He works in a cluttered studio that looks like a mechanic’s garage.
▪ The trailer was cluttered and cramped, with barely enough room to turn around.
cluttered with
▪ The room was tiny, its walls cluttered with paintings and old photographs.
▷ dump /dʌmp/ [singular noun] informal
a place that is untidy and dirty :
▪ The Ewells’ place is a real dump.
▪ Why don’t you do something about your room - it’s a dump.
▷ pigsty also pit American /ˈpɪgstaɪ, pɪt/ [singular noun] informal
an untidy and very dirty place :
▪ This place is a pigsty! Clean it up.
▪ I don’t know how you can stand living in a pigsty like this.
▪ My room’s a total pit, but I’m too lazy to clean it.
▷ tip /tɪp/ [singular noun] British informal
a very untidy place :
▪ Your room’s an absolute tip!
▪ It was a very nice house until they moved in and turned it into a tip.
2. person/clothes/hair
▷ untidy British /messy American /ʌnˈtaɪdi, ˈmesi/ [adjective]
someone who is untidy does not keep their clothes, hair etc neatly arranged :
▪ The little children were dirty and untidy, but very happy.
▪ Her hair was messy and her lipstick was smudged.
▪ He was comically tall and thin with a long growth of untidy beard.
▷ be a mess also look a mess British /biː ə ˈmes, ˌlʊk ə ˈmes/ [verb phrase] informal
to look very untidy :
▪ I can’t go out looking like this - I’m a mess.
▪ When the police called, I had just got up, and my hair looked a mess.
▷ scruffy /ˈskrʌfi/ [adjective] British
someone who is scruffy is wearing old, untidy clothes :
▪ My parents think I look scruffy in these jeans, but I like them.
scruffy clothes/jeans/sweater etc
▪ She’s wearing that scruffy old sweater again.
▷ slovenly /ˈslʌv ə nli/ [adjective]
extremely untidy and careless, and often dirty :
▪ Their landlady was fat and slovenly.
▪ The aide was hired to keep the governor’s slovenly brother out of the public eye.
▷ slob /slɒbǁslɑːb/ [countable noun] informal
someone who is extremely untidy but does not seem to care that they are :
▪ Jo’s such a slob - how can you live like that?
▪ If you keep dressing like a slob, no one’s ever going to ask you for a date.
▷ unkempt /ˌʌnˈkempt◂/ [adjective] especially written
someone whose clothes or hair are unkempt, has made no effort to try to look clean or tidy :
▪ Hoskins beard was tangled and unkempt.
▪ She used to dress so neatly, but now her hair and clothes had become unkempt and dirty.
▷ dishevelled British /disheveled American /dɪˈʃev ə ld/ [adjective]
someone who is dishevelled has untidy hair and clothes, often because they have been in a hurry, or have been travelling or working hard :
▪ He looked dusty, disheveled, and very tired.
▪ The actress was found disheveled and confused in a Los Angeles back yard.
▪ She was conscious of her rather dishevelled appearance.
▷ bedraggled /bɪˈdræg ə ld/ [adjective]
someone who is bedraggled looks untidy, especially because they are wet or muddy :
▪ A rather bedraggled crowd waited outside in the pouring rain.
▪ The children walked along the path, looking miserable and bedraggled after the storm.
▷ rumpled /ˈrʌmp ə ld/ [adjective]
if clothes are rumpled, they have lots of creases in them and they look untidy. (Creases are lines where something has been folded.) :
▪ Forman was wearing a rumpled sweatsuit and a three-day beard.
▪ Her dress was as rumpled as if she’d slept in it.
3. to make a place messy
▷ make a mess /ˌmeɪk ə ˈmes/ [verb phrase]
to make a place untidy or dirty :
▪ Eric, you’re making a mess - I hope you’re planning to clean it up.
▪ You can bake some cookies if you promise not to make a mess in the kitchen.
▷ mess up /ˌmes ˈʌp/ [transitive phrasal verb] informal
to make a place untidy or dirty :
mess something up
▪ Don’t mess up the living room - we have company coming tonight.
mess up something
▪ Who’s messed up my nice clean kitchen?
▷ clutter/clutter up /ˈklʌtəʳ, ˌklʌtər ˈʌp/ [transitive verb]
if a lot of things clutter a room, desk etc, they make it untidy, especially because there is not enough space for them :
▪ Toys cluttered the nursery floor.
clutter up something/clutter something up
▪ I don’t want your old newspapers and magazines cluttering up the house.
be cluttered (up) with
▪ All the available space around her computer is cluttered with papers.
▪ His house was cluttered up with the things he had collected.
4. when things are spread around in a messy way
▷ mess /mes/ [singular noun]
when things are spread around everywhere in a dirty, untidy way :
▪ We spent the morning tidying up the mess after the party.
▪ There were cups and ashtrays everywhere - what a mess!
▪ We love having our grandchildren visit, but they always leave such a mess for us to clean up.
▷ chaos /ˈkeɪ-ɒsǁ-ɑːs/ [uncountable noun]
when everything is very untidy, nothing is organized, and there is no order or system :
▪ We’ve just moved into the new office and I’ve no idea where anything is - it’s chaos!
in chaos
in a state of chaos
▪ I arrived home unexpectedly and found the house in chaos.
▷ clutter /ˈklʌtəʳ/ [uncountable noun]
when a lot of things have been left together in one place, especially unnecessary things that prevent you from moving around easily :
▪ It seemed impossible for her to keep the house free of clutter.
clutter of
▪ On the dresser a clutter of compacts, rouges, and lipsticks lie half open.
▷ disaster/disaster area /dɪˈzɑːstəʳ, dɪˈzɑːstər ˌe ə riəǁdɪˈzæs-/ [countable noun] informal
a place that is very messy or dirty :
▪ I’d invite you in, but my place is a disaster.
▪ The kids room is always a disaster area.