From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmessymess‧y /ˈmesi/ ●●● S3 adjective (comparative messier, superlative messiest) 1 DIRTYUNTIDYdirty or untidy a messy room Sorry the place is so messy, I haven’t had time to clear up.2 informalUNPLEASANT a messy situation is complicated and unpleasant to deal with He’s just been through a particularly messy divorce.3 making someone or something dirty or untidy messy jobs like plumbing, plastering, and tiling —messily adverb —messiness noun [uncountable]
Examples from the Corpus
messy• Does my hair look messy?• The Pentagon and its computers keep coming up with cleaner models of warfare, while the world gets messier.• He only cleans up his room when it gets really messy.• Mom yells if my room is messy.• But performance is poor, the steering light and lifeless, ergonomics messy and the gearbox jerky.• Killing women was a messy business, so officials worked out a charade.• Their evidence was a bit messy, but it breathed new life into the debate.• Beyond the question of weight loss, olestra raises some messy health issues.• She felt uncomfortable in such a messy house.• My desk isn't always this messy - I've been working on a major project.• Parliamentary answers intended to explain the phenomenon left a messy impression.• Quarrels were generally messy, involving hot tempers, grief, unpredictable actions, passion, outrage, betrayal.• For a messy person, Alvin had a wonderful planning mind.• Their three-cheese pizza is excellent, but messy to eat. 