Word.ws English Dictionary

Synonyms of ball up

33 similar words · 1 opposite word

Another word for ball up is balls up. Other synonyms of ball up are blight, bumble, botch, bugger up and bungle.

Synonyms and similar words for ball up

verbTo ruin or botch.

  • balls up
  • blightTo impede the development or growth of (an aspect of life); to damage, to ruin, to spoil.
  • bumble
  • botchTo perform (a task) in an incompetent or unacceptable manner; to make a mess of something.
  • bugger up vulgar
  • bungleTo incompetently perform (a task); to ruin (something) through incompetent action; to botch up, to bumble.
  • contaminateTo make unfit for use by the introduction of unwholesome or undesirable elements.
  • corruptTo waste, spoil, or consume; to make worthless.
  • crab slang
  • depraveTo make bad or worse; to vitiate; to corrupt.
  • disrupt
  • disturb
  • foilTo blunt; to dull; to spoil.
  • fuck up vulgar
  • jack up vulgar
  • marTo spoil; to ruin; to scathe; to damage.
  • mess up
  • mishandle
  • mommick US, dialectalTo mess up; to bungle or ruin by bungling.
  • polluteTo make something or somewhere less suitable for some activity, especially by the introduction of some unnatural factor.
  • put a crimp in
  • ruinTo upset or overturn the plans or progress of, or to have a disastrous effect on something.
  • screw up vulgar
  • soilTo make invalid, to ruin.
  • sour
  • spoil
  • stain
  • undo literary
  • upset
  • turn upside down
  • upset the applecartTo disorganize or spoil something, especially an established arrangement or plan.
  • vitiateTo spoil, make faulty; to reduce the value, quality, or effectiveness of something.
  • queer dated, slang

Opposite of ball up

verbTo switch to using a stronger bowling ball.

  • ball downTo switch away from a stronger bowling ball.

Meaning of ball up

  1. verb To crush or form into a ball shape.
  2. verb To form melted metals into balls or lumps to roll them out of a furnace for further use.
  3. verb To coil up into a ball.

Full definition of ball up

ball up in other languages

Questions about synonyms of ball up

What is another word for ball up?
Ball up has 33 synonyms on Word.ws, such as balls up, blight, bumble, botch, bugger up, bungle, contaminate and corrupt.
What is the opposite of ball up?
The opposite of ball up is ball down.
What does ball up mean?
Ball up means to crush or form into a ball shape.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ball up (page history and authors) and the entries of the words listed. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws grouped the synonyms and antonyms by meaning and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “Synonyms of ball up.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/synonyms/ball_up. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.