botchedadj.
/bɒtʃt/, U.S. /bɑtʃt/ Mended or patched in a clumsy or unskilful manner; clumsily put or cobbled together. Later (more generally): poorly executed, bungled. Also botched-up.In early use frequently figurative.
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the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [adjective] > unskilled in art or craft > putting together clumsily > clumsily put together
cloutedc1380
bodged1519
botched1537
tinkerly?1576
tinker-like1596
cobbled1798
botchy1843
bodgie1905
haywire1905
bodgied1974
bodgied-up1988
1537 W. Turner tr. Urbanus Regius Compar. Olde Learnynge & Newe sig. Fviiv Not botched, clowted, or unperfecte..learnynge, but sounde, perfecte, and vnchaungeable.
1568 Duke of Norfolk Let. Oct. in H. Campbell Love Lett. Mary Queen of Scots (1824) App. 27 You schall make but boched work yf you doe not sowndlie and perfectlye conclude thowes dyfferencys.
a1599 R. Rollock Lect. Epist. Paul to Colossians (1603) xxvi. 278 Thy sinne is a botched cloathing, a cloute, and a filthy garment.
1641 W. Vaughan Sovles Exercise iii. 90 Fraile Natures botched excellence.
1733 G. Cheyne Eng. Malady i. x. 97 This Cement never makes them the same continued Organ, scarce any thing but a botch'd or clouted one.
1752 D. Hume Idea Perf. Commonw. in Polit. Disc. xii. 282 The common botcht and inaccurate governments seem to serve the purposes of society.
1755 G. Washington Let. 28 Dec. in Writings (1889) I. 262 Dagworthy's was only a botched up Com[missio]n. at best.
1834 T. Carlyle Sartor Resartus i. viii. 20/1 A botched mass of tailors' and cobblers' shreds.
1879 Spectator 31 May 681/2 The Peace is a botched-up affair, bringing Great Britain nothing but..heavy responsibilities.
1904 Open Court June 384 A badly botched and poorly disguised piece of plagiarism.
1966 New Statesman 25 Nov. 775/1 This road is a macadamised cart-track, a botched-up relic of a slower past.
2000 J. Hall Rough Draft (2001) 263 It's hard to debug a system so totally botched up.
2014 J. Nicholas Mod. Girl (2015) i. 53 A cosmetic surgeon was sued for a botched operation to remove ‘excess fat’ from a woman's legs.
Compounds
botched job n. a piece of work done hastily, clumsily, or unskilfully; a bungled task or undertaking; cf. botch job n. at botch n.2 Compounds.
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1786 Authentic Acct. Trials G. R. Fitzgerald & Others 93 Not to make a botched job of it.., he..would go and shoot him..through the centre of the heart.
1861 Daily Jrnl. (Indianapolis) 14 Mar. A number of botched jobs now on our streets attest his unfitness for the position [of city engineer].
1985 H. Mantel Every Day is Mother's Day iv. 90 She could..go to some cowboy who would do a botched job.
2002 Cineaction July 71/2 There can be no doubt of [his] devotion to both his children and his patients: He is simply making a botched job of his relationship to both.
Derivatives
ˈbotchedly adv. (a) with clumsy alterations or additions; (b) blunderingly; awkwardly.
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1642 H. More Ψυχωδια Platonica sig. L7 Thus patch they heaven more botch'dly then old cloths.
1890 Good Housek. 11 Oct. 271/2 The page is botchedly corrected with a pen.
1971 Economist 25 Dec. 12/2 They have done the job so very botchedly..that their new system is exceedingly unlikely to stand.
1993 U. Chatterjee Last Burden (1997) iii. 108 Chhana starts amenably enough, but progresses so torpidly, botchedly.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1537