mess
/mɛs/noun, verb
mess is spelled M-E-S-S: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 37 times per million words in written English, the 2,618th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, mess means “A thing or group of things in a disagreeable, disorganised, or dirty state; hence a bad situation” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of mess is messes.
How many letters and syllables are in mess?
| Letters | 4: M-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 37 times per million words; the 2,618th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is mess?
Mess appears 37 times per million words in written English, the 2,618th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce mess?
- /mɛs/
Mess has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-mess.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of mess
- messes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- messing participle, present
- messed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does mess mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A thing or group of things in a disagreeable, disorganised, or dirty state; hence a bad situation.
No, look, I know that the place looks like a bit of a mess but it's actually a very delicate ecosystem. Everything is connected. It's like the rainforest. You change one thing, even the tiniest bit, and the whooole rainforest dies. You don'
- 2
colloquialA large quantity or number.
My boss dumped a whole mess of projects on my desk today.
- 3
Excrement.
There was dog mess all along the street.
- 4
A person in a state of (especially emotional) turmoil or disarray; an emotional wreck.
Between the pain and the depression, I'm a mess.
- 5
obsoleteMass; a church service.
- 6
archaicA quantity of food set on a table at one time; provision of food for a person or party for one meal; also, the food given to an animal at one time.
- 7
A number of persons who eat together, and for whom food is prepared in common, especially military personnel who eat at the same table.
the wardroom mess
- 8
A building or room in which mess is eaten.
- 9
Indiaa type of restaurant characterized by homely-style cooking and food.
- 10
A set of four (from the old practice of dividing companies into sets of four at dinner).
- 11
USThe milk given by a cow at one milking.
- 12
A group of iguanas.
verb
- 1
To make soiled by defecating.
- 2
To make soiled by ejaculating.
- 3
To throw into disorder or to ruin.
Charles Dickens, quoted in: 1875, John Forster, The Life of Charles Dickens Yet I was not sorry that the creature found the loophole for escape. The officers had taken him illegally without any warrant; and really they messed it all through
- 4
To interfere.
This doesn't concern you. Don't mess.
- 5
To take meals with a mess.
- 6
To belong to a mess.
- 7
To eat (with others).
Resolved 18. That no Guide or Interpreter whether at the Factory Depot or Inland be permitted to mess with Commissioned Gentlemen or Clerks in charge of Posts; but while at the Depot they will be allowed per Week 4 days ordinary rations...
- 8
To supply with a mess.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Mess in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense confusion of things:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | fouillis, gâchis, bazar, foutoir, chenis, chienlit |
| German | Durcheinander, Unordnung, (totales) Chaos, Schweinerei, Saustall, Mist (bauen) |
| Portuguese | bagunça |
| Spanish | leonera, desmadre, belén, cristo, cisco, pollo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does mess come from?
Perhaps a corruption of Middle English mesh (“mash”), compare muss, or derived from Etymology 2 "mixed foods, as for animals". Compare also Old English mes (“dung, excrement”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).