Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

balls up

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.51 in modern English

Syllables: ball-s up
IPA

11

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

third-person singular simple present indicative of ball up

verb

To make a mess of a situation.

British usage; Intransitive verb

verb

To do something badly. To ruin a job.

British usage; Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"He was putting everything he had into it, but he kept ballsing up."
"'We just have to get through without ballsing up"
"He really ballsed up that paint work. It'll have to be redone!"
"It has got to the ludicrous stage that whenever Snedden makes a speech without actually ballsing something up irrevocably, they tell him he's the greatest thing since Winston Churchill;"
"Bearing in mind that if you're teasing but you have to explain it, then you're not teasing, you're just ballsing things up and being a fucking thug."
"We’re humans, we’re fallible, there is no medal for being right all the time; admitting we ballsed it up is not a weakness, it’s a superpower."

Etymology

From ball up.

Usage

Inflected Forms

ballses up (present, singular) ballsing up (participle, present) ballsed up (participle, past) ballsed up (past)

Questions

What does balls up mean?: third-person singular simple present indicative of ball up
Where does balls up come from?: From ball up.

How to pronounce balls up

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “balls up”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
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