What does "mess" mean?
a thing or group of things in a disagreeable, disorganised, or dirty state; hence a bad situation
Mess
/mɛs/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: a thing or group of things in a disagreeable, disorganised, or dirty state; hence a bad situation
- Grammar: mess is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: mess hall, muddle, shemozzle, all sorts.
- Useful contrasts: danish orden, dutch orde, formatted layout.
- Usage evidence: It's a complete mess, and it's getting on my nerves.
How to use "mess"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "mess" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "mess" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "mess" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "mess" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "mess" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "mess hall" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "mess", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 a thing or group of things in a disagreeable, disorganised, or dirty state; hence a bad situation countable, uncountable
"No, look, I know that the place looks like a bit of a mess but it's actually a very delicate ecosystem. Everything is connected. It's like the rainforest. You change one thing, even the tiniest bit, and the whooole rainforest dies. You don't want the rainforest to die, do ya?"
- 2 Mass; a church service. obsolete
- 3 a (large) military dining room where service personnel eat or relax wordnet
- 4 a large quantity or number colloquial, countable, uncountable
"Messerschmidts! A whole mess of Messerschmidts!"
- 5 A quantity of food set on a table at one time; provision of food for a person or party for one meal; also, the food given to an animal at one time. archaic
"c. 1555, Hugh Latimer, letter to one in prison for the profession of the Gospel a mess of pottage"
Show 14 more definitions
- 6 a meal eaten in a mess hall by service personnel wordnet
- 7 excrement. countable, euphemistic, uncountable
"There was dog mess all along the street."
- 8 A number of persons who eat together, and for whom food is prepared in common, especially military personnel who eat at the same table. collective
"the wardroom mess"
- 9 soft semiliquid food wordnet
- 10 a person in a state of (especially emotional) turmoil or disarray; an emotional wreck countable, figuratively, uncountable
"Between the pain and the depression, I'm a mess."
- 11 A building or room in which mess is eaten.
"The police mess had formerly been a maternity home for the wives of the Sultans of the state. Faded and tatty, peeling, floorboards eaten and unpolished, its philoprogenitive glory was a memory only."
- 12 (often followed by ‘of’) a large number or amount or extent wordnet
- 13 a type of restaurant characterized by homely-style cooking and food. India
- 14 informal terms for a difficult situation wordnet
- 15 A set of four (from the old practice of dividing companies into sets of four at dinner).
- 16 a state of confusion and disorderliness wordnet
- 17 The milk given by a cow at one milking. US
- 18 A group of iguanas. collective
- 19 A dessert of fruit and cream, similar to a fool.
"Eton is renowned for its "messes," and "strawberry mess" is Empress of them all, with raspberry mess as a very good second. It does not at all convey the joys of a "mess" to say that it consists of iced fruit and cream, and somewhat resembles a "fool." It is a thing apart, and should be approached with bated breath and unimpaired capacity."
Verb
- 1 To make untidy or dirty.; To make soiled by defecating. often, transitive
"It seems like all you do is cry, eat, and mess your diapers!"
- 2 To take meals with a mess. intransitive
- 3 make a mess of or create disorder in wordnet
- 4 To make untidy or dirty.; To make soiled by ejaculating. often, transitive
- 5 To belong to a mess. intransitive
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 eat in a mess hall wordnet
- 7 To throw into disorder or to ruin. often, transitive
"But it wasn't right to be messing another man's sleep with tidal waves that didn't belong to the other man."
- 8 To eat (with others). intransitive
"Resolved 18. That no Guide or Interpreter whether at the Factory Depot or Inland be permitted to mess with Commissioned Gentlemen or Clerks in charge of Posts; but while at the Depot they will be allowed per Week 4 days ordinary rations..."
- 9 To interfere. intransitive
"This doesn't concern you. Don't mess."
- 10 To supply with a mess. transitive
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname from German.
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
danish ordendutch ordeformatted layoutgerman form
Example
"It's a complete mess, and it's getting on my nerves."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "mess"?
Common synonyms include: mess hall, muddle, shemozzle, all sorts, allotment, allowance.
How do you use "mess" in a sentence?
It's a complete mess, and it's getting on my nerves.
How do you pronounce "mess"?
Pronounced /mɛs/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Perhaps a corruption of Middle English mesh (“mash”), compare muss, or derived from Etymology 2 "mixed foods, as for animals". Compare also Old English mes (“dung, excrement”).
Etymology 2
From Middle English mes, partly from Old English mēse, mēose (“table”), a vernacular loan from Latin/Late Latin mē(n)sa (“table; meal”); and partly from Old French mes, Late Latin missum, from mittō (“to put, place (e.g. on the table)”). See mission, and compare Mass (“religious service”).
Etymology 3
Borrowed from German Mess.