mess with

phrasal verb

messed with; messing with; messes with

informal

1

: to cause trouble for (someone) : to deal with (someone) in a way that may cause anger or violence

I wouldn't want to mess with him.

You'd better not be messing with me.

2

chiefly US : to deal with or be involved with (something that causes or that could cause trouble)

The company doesn't want to mess with small distributors.

He doesn't want to mess with cocaine anymore.

3

: to handle or play with (something) in a careless way : to mess around with (something)

Don't mess with the camera.

Examples of mess with in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There’s an option for a second helm in the main salon, but that choice would really mess with the feng shui that Aquila designed into this main inner social area. —Michael Verdon, Robb Report, 24 Feb. 2025

To fiddle with the former is to say that production is inflationary, while messing with the latter is like (rather vainly) limiting the supply of rulers as a way of strengthening the foot. —John Tamny, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2025

In America, states can do little to mess with interstate commerce. —Jeremy Lott, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 21 Feb. 2025

In one 2024 study, researchers analyzed more than 7,000 online reviews of Tinder and interviewed 30 Tinder users, and found that many people believe that dating sites are messing with their profile’s visibility, manipulating their matches, and knowingly providing options that aren’t good fits. —Faith Hill, The Atlantic, 20 Feb. 2025