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Definition of "messy" []

  • Disorderly and dirty: a messy bedroom. (adjective)
  • Exhibiting or demonstrating carelessness: messy reasoning. (adjective)
  • Unpleasantly difficult to settle or resolve: a messy court case. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "messy" in a sentence
  • "What we need instead is what I describe as messy coherence, a sense of direction with with requisite diversity."
  • "Now, this is what I call a messy situation because Thai police are hellbent on proving that it was anything but murder."
  • "But all she did was preserve what the department had; she has yet to upgrade the operation or figure out a way for her department to become the clear mother ship for US smart power deployed in messy international situations."