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botch Definition

botch (bäc̸h)

transitive verb

  1. to repair or patch clumsily
  2. to spoil by poor work or poor performance; bungle

Etymology: ME bocchen, to repair < ?

noun

  1. a badly patched place or part
  2. a bungled or unskillful piece of work

botch Related Forms

botch′er noun botch′y adjective

botch² Definition

botch (bäc̸h)

noun

Brit., Dialectal a boil, sore, or ulcer

Etymology: ME bocche < Anglo-Norm boche (OFr boce): see boss

botch Synonyms

botch

v.

bungle, spoil, mar, ruin, wreck, mutilate, fumble, distort, blunder, mishandle, do clumsily, muddle, make a mess of, trip up, flounder, err, fall down, be mistaken, misapply, misjudge, misconjecture, mismanage, miscalculate, misconstrue, misreckon, miscompute, misestimate, execute clumsily, do unskillfully, stumble, make a hash of*, put one's foot in it*, pull a boner*, goof up*, butcher*, screw up*, mess up*, foul up*, muff*, flub one's lines*, put out of whack*; see also destroy 1, fail 1.

Antonyms succeed*, fix*, do well.

botch Usage Examples

Preposition: of

thing: Keepers get noticed only when they are making a botch of things and Jones has been unobtrusive these few weeks.

Object

  • operation: I can't see him having too many troubles recovering, as long as the surgeon hasn't botched the operation.
  • job: The only duff moment comes with a rather botched job of Massive Attack's Safe From Harm.
  • attempt: Deficiencies could have been masked with clever characterisation, or visual humor, but chances were wasted and occasional attempts botched.
  • investigation: The widow of one of the victims accused Austria of botching the investigation under pressure from Iran over a scandal concerning illegal weapon sales.
  • everything: I mean the sheer incompetence with which they've botched everything they've touched is enough reason to get rid of them.

Converse of object

make: Molenaar looked a liability at the back, fell over a lot, made some right botches.

Modifying Another Word

  • badly: A US-backed coup against him was badly botched in 2002.
  • together: The name became a byword for something cobbled together, botched together, tied together with string.
  • somewhat: It's a nice idea, but somewhat botched in the execution.
  • completely: I have given the Norton two stars because it isn't completely horrible ( it's hard to completely botch Shakespeare ).
  • rather: The only duff moment comes with a rather botched job of Massive Attack's Safe From Harm.
  • all: Lewsey, Tindall, Ellis, Cohen and Moody have all botched penetrative moves by dropping the ball under minimal pressure.