Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. of objects, intentions or plans, broken, wrecked, ruined.

1863		in D.M. Sullivan USMC in the Civil War (2000) III 267: ‘What the bloody Hell is wanted now? This is a fucked up company anyhow, and always has been since the guard came on shore. To Hell with such a company and all connected with such a damned concern!’.
1939		A. Bessie Men in Battle 133: The detail’s all fucked-up.
1948		(con. 1944) N. Mailer Naked and Dead 254: The Army’s got the mail fugged up.
1958		Kerouac letter 12 June in Charters II (1999) 128: Just got galleys from Viking for me to restore to original, so they’re not going to try to sneak something over in [sic] me, i.e., a fucked-up manuscript.
1963		J. Rechy City of Night 30: Theres dozens of you [...] pictures in a fuckedup album.
1970		E. Tidyman Shaft 88: Everything else in the fucked-up world.
1987		(con. 1967) E. Spencer Welcome to Vietnam (1989) 135: This fucked-up base called Khe Sanh is ours, not Charlie’s.
1999		Guardian Weekend 10 July 34: He asked first for his wife to bring a pillow so the carpet wouldn’t be ‘fucked up’ by the blood.
2000		W. Shaw Westsiders 126: LA’s kind of [...] really fucked up.
2012		M. McBride Frank Sinatra in a Blender [ebook] This is a fucked-up deal, Nicky.
2013		K. Sampson Killing Pool 96: This is fucked up, you halfwit. Fuck off out of here.
2015		S. King Finders Keepers (2016) 123: Advertising [...] what greater agent of the norm is there in this fucked-up country.
2020		G. Disher Consolation 331: A sad, fucked-up story, thought Hirsch. Sad, fucked-up people.

2. (also f’d up) of people, distressed, unhappy, mentally unstable.

1948		E. Hemingway letter 28 July in Baker Sel. Letters (1981) 648: I was all fucked up when I wrote it.
1960		Kerouac letter 8 July in Charters II (1999) 261: I refuse to be fucked up and never did like being fucked up by what Others want.
1971		B. Malamud Tenants (1972) 91: She was a fucked-up nigger-struck chick when I took her on.
1989		T. Blacker Fixx 305: Mothers with weird, fucked-up kids.
1994		N. McCall Makes Me Wanna Holler (1995) 279: Gay, strung out, unemployed or plain fucked up in the head from trying to cope.
2001		Eble Campus Sl. Fall 4: F’D UP – euphemistic abbreviation of fucked up; wrong, incoherent.
2002		Simon & Burns ‘One Arrest’ Wire ser. 1 ep. 7 [TV script] Wallace been all fucked up, since they got that stick-up boy, you know.
2006		C. Hiaasen Nature Girl 63: He was simply fucked-up, and not in a particularly interesting way.
2010		J. Ellroy Hilliker Curse 3: A stranger would mark me as a fucked-up child in everyday duress.
2010		L. Redhead Thrill City [ebook] Mum survived [...] but her partner Steve had been killed. I was still pretty fucked up about it.
2016		‘Chelsea G. Summers’ New Republic 19 Apr. 🌐 Writing the details of her life—her first boyfriend who ‘got’ her kink, her childhood discovery of spanking [...] her internal battles over being ‘fucked up’.
2020		G. Disher Consolation 331: A sad, fucked-up story, thought Hirsch. Sad, fucked-up people.
2021		J. Ellroy Widespread Panic 35: The meshugenah Magna Carta of our hopped-up and fucked-up age.

3. suffering (not always painfully) from the use of drugs or alcohol to excess; completely intoxicated.

1966		H.S. Thompson Hell’s Angels (1967) 193: We’ll smoke up some weed, get all fucked up.
1972		Smith & Gay Heroin in Perspective 201: Fucked up. High on heroin (sometimes other drugs): ‘He was so fucked up he couldn’t even drive a car’.
1972		Milner & Milner Black Players 65: They started drinking some alcohol and got fucked up [...] They got fucked up so bad she passed out.
1980		M. Thelwell Harder They Come 323: I —am—so—fucked—up.
1993		Snoop Doggy Dogg ‘Gin and Juice’ 🎵 Tanqueray and chronic, yeah, I’m fucked up now.
1995		M. Dibdin Dark Spectre (1996) 29: How are we supposed to get fucked up now you’ve cleaned out the stash?
1996		(con. 1964-65) B. Thorpe Sex and Thugs and Rock ’n’ Roll 212: I was totally fucked-up on one hit.
1997–2001		Online Sl. Dict. 🌐 fucked up adj [...] 2. extremely intoxicated on alcohol or other drugs. (‘He got so fucked up last night that he couldn’t see.’).
2001		Source Aug. 56: Getting fucked up! Partying in the house.
2001		(con. 1990s) in J. Miller One of the Guys 86: ‘Everybody brings bud and forties. Sit there and get fucked up’.
2004		Simon & Pelecanos ‘Middle Ground’ Wire ser. 3 ep. 11 [TV script] I can’t get too fucked up tonight, man. I got some shit I got to do.
2004		L. Redhead Peepshow [ebook] ‘Come to the loo for a line?’ ‘I would but I’m working [...] can’t get too fucked up’.
2010		A. Steinberg Running the Books 140: The babysitter herself was fucked up [...] So fucked up she didn’t notice the toddler run out of the house.
2010		L. Redhead Thrill City [ebook] His poems are about, like, strip clubs and passion and getting fucked up.
2019		N. Walker Cherry 24: ‘You sound fucked up’‘I actually am not’.
2020		S.A. Crosby Blacktop Wasteland 122: ‘You fucked-up, ain’t ya? I can see it in your eyes’.

4. (orig. US milit.) of people, badly hurt, wounded or killed.

1961		L. McMurtry Horseman, Pass By (1997) 159: He was all fucked up [...] He was throwin’ up blood.
1972		C. Bukowski Erections, Ejaculations etc. 286: One guy was pretty badly fucked-up [...] He had specially-made crutches.
1982		(con. 1970) J.M. Del Vecchio 13th Valley (1983) 22: Some innocent dudes always get fucked up and blown away.
1995		Mack 10 ‘Based on a True Story’ 🎵 Do what he say, and you keep your mouth shut / Talkin’ that drag might get ya fucked up.
2020		S.A. Crosby Blacktop Wasteland 8: ‘Don’t let these boys get your face fucked up. My cousin takes this shit seriously. Take it back and you can go home with all your teeth’.
2020		G. Krauze What They Was 15: He got into one mad car accident and he was all fucked up from it.

5. worthless, contemptible, miserable.

1977		(con. 1965-66) P. Caputo Rumor of War 213: ‘I can’t wait till I’m out of this fucked-up outfit. I can’t take any more of this petty bullshit’.
1978		T. O’Brien Going After Cacciato (1980) 252: Berlin [...] That’s a pretty fucked-up name, isn’t it ? [...] You an American, soldier?
1983		R. Price Breaks 193: That was fucked-up of me – I’m sorry.
1990		(con. 1930s–60s) H. Huncke Guilty of Everything (1998) 269: Well, of all the fucked-up situations.
1995		C. Hiaasen Stormy Weather 23: Whatever fucked-up plan you had for ripping me off is now officially terminated.
2001		N. Barlay Hooky Gear 288: You think I’m gonna let some fuckin tarphead tell some fucked-up story to some fucked-up pig in some fucked-up lingo?
2019		C.D. Rosales Word Is Bone [ebook] You want to stop doing fucked up things.
2021		T. Swerdlow Straight Dope [ebook] I know you like dated her or did some fucked-up shit to her or something.

6. (US) confused, in a muddle.

1954		Kerouac letter 2 Jan. in Charters I (1995) 425: By the time I get back to SP at either SJ or El Paso I’ll be completely fucked up.
1970		L. Sanders Anderson Tapes 119: I told you, I just want your advice. I’m all fucked up.
1988		T. Harris Silence of the Lambs (1991) 322: Make sure and put one of your handsets in each van for the driver, so we don’t get fucked up talking to those DEA guys.

7. (also fuck-up) of places, unpleasant.

1968		N. Heard Howard Street 155: You gonna tell me that a people in a fucked-up position [...] wouldn’t be better off havin’ to build a society of their own.
1977		E. Bunker Animal Factory 128: That’s the world’s most fucked-up jail.
1991		B. Hamper Rivethead (1992) 87: As fucked-up and filthy as Cab Shop as, I still considered it my home.
1997		C. Newland Scholar 76: Him juggle rocks fe me, over in dat fuck-up estate down the road from Greenside.
2005		B. Hare Urban Grimshaw 17: England’s green and fucked-up land.
2016		Guardian Guide 13 Feb. 15/1: [He] told a room of producers that he was on the hunt for ‘screwy and fucked-up’ programme ideas.

8. in trouble.

1970

G. Scott-Heron Vulture (1996) 11: ‘All you needa do iz lean wrong one time an’ nex’ thing you know, you all fucked up.’.

9. unappealling, unpleasant.

1974		V.E. Smith Jones Men 227: I told him this was a pretty fucked-up time of the morning.
1986		L. Heinemann Paco’s Story (1987) 11: Say something fucked up and quotable, something evil.
1999		J. Ridley Love Is a Racket 188: Dumas had killed Nellis for the express purpose of giving me the most fucked-up task in the world to perform.
2002		J. Lerner You Got Nothing Coming 160: That’s some fucked-up shit, Scud!

10. exhausted, worn out.

1979

D. Gram Boulevard Nights 93: I’m tired man. Fuckin’ fucked up [HDAS].

11. weird, strange, unusual.

1997–2001		Online Sl. Dict. 🌐 fucked up adj 1. weird or unusual. (‘That movie was fucked up’).
2023		Rayman & Blau Riker’s 76: He had all kind of fucked-up tattoos all over him [...] tatted from his forehead down to his feet.