English–French

“mess up” in French

French

Alsobousiller

Pronunciation

IPA/gafe/

Example

Elle gaffe souvent au travail.

She often messes up at work.

Illustration for gaffer (mess up)

How to say “mess up” in French

“Mess up” in French is gaffer.

One careless act that turns a routine exchange into an embarrassing complication.

Full entry for gaffer: usage tips, similar words and word origin

Example sentences with gaffer

Il gaffe en envoyant un message.

He messes up when sending a message.

Tips for using gaffer

  • In compound past tenses, gaffer takes avoir and has the past participle gaffé.

Other French words for “mess up”

Tu as bousillé le gâteau ?

Did you mess up the cake?

“mess up” in other languages