mess around

verb

messed around; messing around; messes around

intransitive verb

1

: to waste time : dawdle, idle

2

a

: associate

didn't mess around with gangs

b

: flirt, philander

Synonyms

• doodle
• fiddle (around)
• fool around
• fribble
• goof (around)
• hang about [British]
• kick around
• monkey (around)
• play
• potter (around)
• putter (around)
• trifle

Examples of mess around in a Sentence

spent the vacation day just messing around

a guy who goes to the health club mainly to mess around with the women

Recent Examples on the Web

Our season got canceled, obviously, and just had some free time to kind of mess around and enjoy the game again and not really worry about the stress of professional baseball. —Jeff Sanders, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 May 2025

That means companies like his will need to be prepared to take some responsibility when agents cause harm—even when a kid messing around with an agent might be to blame. —Paresh Dave, Wired News, 22 May 2025

Between filming, the kids would mess around and explore the soundstages, playing capture the flag and hide-and-seek in the famed Chamber of Secrets and other notable locations on set. —Meredith Wilshere, People.com, 17 May 2025

Yeah, the team is old, and would have benefited from closing out the Rockets in five instead of messing around till Game 7. —Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 7 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1918, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for mess around

• aboveground
• battleground
• belowground
• paperbound
• turnaround
• ultrasound
• underground
• wraparound
• abound
• aground
• astound
• background