EN

Synonyms for botch

44 synonyms
1 antonym
4 meanings

verb
noun

Most common

bungle mess up spoil mess patch knock together

Synonyms by meaning

Verb

1. Bungle — to perform (a task) in an incompetent or unacceptable manner; to make a mess of something

bungle, mess up, spoil, flub US AU NZ, mess, ruin, mar, bumble, blow, fumble, muck up informal, foul up, louse up informal, boggle US, bobble, fluff, blight, muff, mishandle, bollix, bolix US, mommick US, foil

2. Patch — to mend or repair (something) clumsily

patch, knock together, jury-rig, bodge

Other

Noun

1. Blunder

blunder, boo-boo informal, blooper, butcher, boner, bloomer, pratfall, stumble, faux pas, solecism, fuckup vulgar

2. Failure

screw-up, fuck-up, failure, fiasco

Other

Antonyms

All antonyms of botch →

Definitions

v. 1
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.
v. 2
To mend or repair (something) clumsily.
n. 1
An action, job, or task that has been performed very badly; a ruined, defective, or clumsy piece of work.
n. 2
A patch put on, or a part of a garment patched or mended in a clumsy manner.

Related words

Word family: botcher botchery botchy
Phrases: botch up botch job

Forms

Plural: botches → blunders, boo-boos, bloopers, butchers…
Past participle: botched
e.g. botched → bungled, spoilt, flubbed, messed…

Example sentences

mess If you mess with drugs, you're asking for trouble.
fumble Don't fumble with anything during an interview.
bungle The company will never recover after that last bungle.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
botch		rising
mess		rising
fumble		rising
bungle		steady

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: mar¹
4 letters: mess¹, blow¹, ruin², foil¹, muff¹, flub
5 letters: patch¹, spoil¹, fluff¹, boner², bodge, bolix
6 letters: fumble², fiasco³, blight¹, bumble², cobble², bobble², bungle², boggle², fuckup, bollix
7 letters: failure², butcher², stumble², blunder², bloomer², blooper², bungler², mommick
8 letters: pratfall², solecism
9 letters: mishandle³

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (ruin² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: bâcler
Italiano: raffazzonare