messy

[mes-ee] /ˈmɛs i/

adjective, messier, messiest.

characterized by a dirty, untidy, or disordered condition:

a messy room.

causing a mess:

a messy recipe; messy work.

embarrassing, difficult, or unpleasant:

a messy political situation.

characterized by moral or psychological confusion.

Origin

1835-45; mess + -y¹

Related forms

messiness, noun

Examples from the web for messy

Such fibers are both light-colored and messy, and so towhead can refer to someone with light or messy hair.
Mixing from the repeated use of the fire pit may or may not explain the messy order.
In other words, the truism that more information is always better proved untrue when life got a little messy.
And often, the only way to do it is to get messy ourselves.
Blossoms are followed by attractive cream-and-red seed capsules that drop and can be messy on paving.
Home brewing tends to be a deliciously messy and involved process.
Not surprisingly, given the chaotic auction process, the final outcome is messy.
It also allows for a messy bed to be kept out of sight.
As you sit down in your tiny, messy cube, fluorescent lights buzz overhead.
More than a business threat, the site has raised messy copyright issues and drawn the ire of established publishers.

British Dictionary definitions for messy

/ˈmɛsɪ/

adjective messier, messiest

dirty, confused, or untidy

Derived Forms

messily, adverb
messiness, noun

Word Origin and History for messy

adj.

1843, "untidy," from mess (n.) + -y (2). Figurative use ("unethical") by 1924. Related: Messily; messiness.

Slang definitions & phrases for messy

adjective