botch
UK/bɒt͡ʃ//bɑt͡ʃ/
botch verb: to perform (a task) in an incompetent or unacceptable manner; to make a mess of something.
Verb
botch (third-person singular simple present botches, present participle botching, simple past and past participle botched)
- To perform (a task) in an incompetent or unacceptable manner; to make a mess of something.
- A botched haircut seems to take forever to grow out.
- And other diuels that ſuggest by treaſons, / Do botch and bungle vp damnation, / VVith patches, colours, and vvith formes being fetcht / From gliſt'ring ſemblances of piety: […]1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- To do (something) without care or skill, or clumsily.
- To mend or repair (something) clumsily.
- Synonyms:
- bodge, cludge, cobble together, jury-rig, kludge, kluge, knock together, knock up, MacGyver, make-do
Noun (1)
botch (plural botches)
- An action, job, or task that has been performed very badly; a ruined, defective, or clumsy piece of work.
- That I require a cleareneſſe; and with him; / To leaue no Rubs nor Botches in the Worke:c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- A patch put on, or a part of a garment patched or mended in a clumsy manner.
- A mistake that is very stupid or embarrassing.
- A messy, disorderly or confusing combination; a conglomeration; hodgepodge.
- One who makes a mess of something.
- If it was the last word I ever spoke, Puddock, you're a good natured—he 's a gentleman, sir—and it was all my own fault; he warned me, he did, again' swallyin' a dhrop of it—remember what I'm saying, Doctor—'twas I that done it; I was always a botch, Puddock, an' a fool; and—and—gentlemen—good-by.1863, J[oseph] Sheridan Le Fanu, “Æsculapius to the Rescue”, in The House by the Church-yard. […], volume I, London: Tinsley, Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 149
- Synonyms:
- bungler
Noun (2)
botch (plural botches)
- A tumour or other malignant swelling.
- Botches and blaines muſt all his fleſh imboſs,1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
- A case or outbreak of boils or sores.
- The Lord wil smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scabbe, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not bee healed.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 28:27
botch meaning in Tamil, Urdu and Malayalam
botch in Tamil
- தோல்மேல் தடிப்பு, கரணை, பற்றை, அரைகுறை வேலை, மோசமான வேலைப்பாடு, அரைகுறையாகப் பழுதுபார்
botch in Urdu
- داغ, پھوڑا, گھپلا کرنا
botch in Malayalam
- mismanage, bangle, mishandle
- പടുപണി ചെയ്യുക, മോശപ്പെട്ട കേടുപോക്കൽപ്പണി ചെയ്യുക, കെടുകാര്യം ചെയ്യുക, അസമർത്ഥമായി കെെകാര്യം ചെയ്യുക, ക്രമരഹിതമായി പ്രവർത്തിക്കുക, വിലക്ഷണമാക്കുക
- mess, blunder, failure
- കളിപ്പ്, ഭോഷത്തം, മടയത്തം, ബുദ്ധിശൂന്യത, കിണ്ടം, കിണ്ടത്തം
Synonyms of botch
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of botch
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | botches |
| present participle | botching |
| past participle | botched |
| past | botched |
| Noun | |
| plural | botches |
Origin of botch
From Middle English bocchen (“to mend”), of uncertain origin. Possibly from Old English bōtettan (“to improve; cure; remedy; repair”), related to boot, or from Middle Dutch botsen, butsen, boetsen (“to repair; patch”), related to beat. Doublet of bodge.
From Middle English botche, from Anglo-Norman boche, from Late Latin bocia (“boss”).
Words formed from botch
Phrases with botch
Words that rhyme with botch
Questions about botch
- What does botch mean?
- Botch means to perform (a task) in an incompetent or unacceptable manner; to make a mess of something.
- What is botch in Tamil?
- Botch in Tamil is தோல்மேல் தடிப்பு, கரணை, பற்றை. See Botch meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is botch?
- Botch can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce botch?
- Botch is pronounced /bɒt͡ʃ/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of botch?
- The past tense of botch is botched.
Words near botch in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: botch (page history and authors); botch (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); botch (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); botch (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-botch.ogg.
Cite this entry: “botch.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/botch. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.