Collocations for mess - noun

absolute, complete, fine (esp. AmE), hopeless, real, royal (esp. AmE), total, utter
I got myself into a complete mess.

entire, whole
You started this entire mess!

appalling (BrE), awful, horrible, nasty, stupid, terrible, ugly, unholy
big, giant, huge
The whole situation is a giant mess.
I'm in a huge mess. I don't know what to do.

complicated, confusing, incoherent
The plot is an incoherent mess.

chaotic
jumbled, muddled (esp. AmE), tangled, untidy (BrE)
Her hair was a tangled mess.

bloody, disgusting, gooey, muddy, slimy, sloppy, soggy, sticky
Soon both fighters were a bloody mess of flying punches.
Why don't you clean up this disgusting mess?

emotional
He's been an emotional mess since his girlfriend left him.

economic, financial

leave, make
Must you always leave such a mess?
She felt she was making a terrible mess of her life.

clean up, clear up, tidy up (esp. BrE), wipe up
look (BrE), look like (esp. AmE)
become
My life's becoming a big mess.

get (sb) into, get (sb) out of
Who got us into this mess in the first place?

cause, create, start
That was what caused this whole mess in the first place.

deal with, fix (AmE), resolve, sort out, straighten out
I have to try to fix the mess you caused.

in a mess
The kitchen's in an awful mess.
We found ourselves in a real mess.

mess of
She searched through the mess of papers on her desk. (esp. AmE)

make a mess of things
I've really made a mess of things!