Mess up
Mess up verb - To make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way.
Play
Play verb - To deal with (something) usually skillfully or efficiently.
Usage example: this is how we're going to play the situation
Both terms in one sentence
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It was partly because she afraid people would make fun of her, and also because she's tomboyish and likes to play games which would mess up the clothes.
Source: Forced into Their Sunday Best -
One of the things the Spaceball minigame from Tengoku does to mess up your play (coupled with copious Astronomic Zoom) is having the batter wear various silly masks.
Source: Video Game / Rhythm Heaven - A perfect example comes in Heaven's Built to Scale: You can play the entire rest of the level flawlessly, but if you mess up on the very last note, you'll still only get an OK rating because that last note is graded all by itself.
Source: Video Game / Rhythm Heaven
Cite this Source
Play and Mess up. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 07, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/mess_up/play
Mess up & Play. N.p., 2016. Web. 07 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/mess_up/play>.
Play or Mess up. 2016. Accessed August 07, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/mess_up/play.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "mess up" and "play" have occurred on timeline