play around

idiom

1

: to have sex with someone who is not one's husband, wife, or regular partner

He's not the kind of guy who plays around.

—often + on

She's been playing around on her husband.

—often + with

She's been playing around with one of her coworkers.

2

: to deal with or treat something in a careless way

When it comes to protecting his family, he doesn't play around.

—often + with

You can't play around with diabetes; it's a very serious disease.

3

: to use or do something in a way that is not very serious

It's time to stop playing around and get busy.

—often + on

I spent the evening playing around on the piano/computer/Internet.

—often + with

I'm not really a painter; I just like to play around with paints.

4

: to move or change something or to think about something in different ways often in order to find out what would work best

—+ with

I see you've been playing around with the living room furniture again.

The supervisor played around with our work schedules this week.

We played around with the idea for a while but eventually realized that it just wouldn't work.

Examples of play around in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Fogelman likes to play around with time to create mysteries within otherwise straightforward narratives, and that’s how Paradise works, introducing little points of confusion and then filling in the backstory with flashbacks to flesh things out. —Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Jan. 2025

Other stunts in the Nosferatu campaign included 250-pound sarcophaguses in theater lobbies such as the Alamo Drafthouse that denizens could play around in; the NBCUniversal online gift store sold such beds for $20,000. —Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 16 Jan. 2025

Obviously there’s Tejo, but there is also a new type of cosmetic, and the new battle pass to play around with. —Mike Stubbs, Forbes, 7 Jan. 2025

Marvel movies play around the world, of course, but Disney only has theme parks in a few locations. —Alex Weprin, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Jan. 2025