mess around

verb

Definition of mess aroundnext
1
as in to play
to spend time in aimless activity spent the vacation day just messing around

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to flirt
to show a sexual attraction for someone just for fun a guy who goes to the health club mainly to mess around with the women

Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in to travel
to come or be together as friends if you continue to mess around with such narrow-minded boobs, you'll begin to think and act like them

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of mess around The Lakers weren’t messing around during the film sessions or practices. — Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2026 Lego isn't messing around, as there are eight all-new Lego Star Wars sets already available, which launched a few days ahead of the event on April 26. — Paul Brett, Space.com, 30 Apr. 2026 Dragstrem, who focuses more on production, has messed around with it but was left unsatisfied; McGill, who’s more lyrics-driven, wants nothing to do with the tech. — Jonathan Bernstein, Rolling Stone, 30 May 2026 While the directors mess around with genre in each chapter and the cast differs from story to story, the six narratives are given a sense of consistency courtesy of the unique Coen voice. — James Mercadante, Entertainment Weekly, 12 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for mess around
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mess around
  1. play
  2. flirt
  3. travel
  4. fool around
  5. associate
  6. hang about
  7. run
  8. kick around
Verb
  • He was evaluated by the medical staff, hit in the cage and decided to play.
    — Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 July 2026
  • Some Wordlers also play Competitive Wordle against friends, family, the Wordle Bot or even against me, your humble narrator.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 8 July 2026
Definition of play
Verb
  • The remainder of the match played out much the same as the rest with Paraguay playing a brusque style of physical soccer, which at times flirted with unsportsmanlike play that went unpunished by the referee.
    — Patrick Sung Cuadrado, CNN Money, 4 July 2026
  • This was offered as a way of talking about the Spanish capital on the whole, but it has been widely interpreted as flirting with 15-time Champions League winners Los Blancos.
    — Tom Sanderson, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
Definition of flirt
Verb
  • More than 40 tall ships from 20 foreign countries participated, traveling through New York Harbor from near Sandy Hook, New Jersey, up to the George Washington Bridge.
    — Nicole Jao, USA Today, 6 July 2026
  • Several Iraqi provinces announced official holidays to allow mourners to travel.
    — Xiaoqian Lin, CNN Money, 6 July 2026
Definition of travel
Verb
  • Another horny couple on vacation couldn’t wait until their flight landed to fool around and insisted on doing so in the plane's cabin.
    — Sean Joseph OutKick, FOXNews.com, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Zeus did not approve of his daughter fooling around with this mortal roughneck hunter and put out a hit on Orion.
    — Mike Lynch, Twin Cities, 8 Mar. 2026
Definition of fool around
Verb
  • Valentine and Suarez did not respond to letters mailed to addresses that appeared to be associated with them.
    — David Hilzenrath, USA Today, 2 July 2026
  • Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick sent a letter Tuesday informing Anthropic co-founder Tom Brown of the decision, citing Anthropic’s close coordination and cooperation with government officials to address risks associated with its models.
    — Jared Perlo, NBC news, 1 July 2026
Definition of associate
Verb
  • President James Garfield’s assassin, Charles Guiteau, died by hanging about five months after he was convicted of murder.
    — USA Today, USA Today, 17 June 2026
  • On Monday, May 18, a 7%-illuminated crescent will hang about two degrees from Venus, with Jupiter about 20 degrees above.
    — Jamie Carter, Space.com, 15 May 2026
Definition of hang about
Verb
  • Villaraigosa, who led the city from 2005-13 and recently ran for governor, argued that this is not the right time to make even that change.
    — Melissa Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 4 July 2026
  • Between there, and running upstairs to supervise fittings of his monumentally sculptural work with his stylist Tallulah Harlech, the designer caught a rare moment to sit and talk.
    — Sarah Mower, Vogue, 3 July 2026
Definition of run
Verb
  • Some of the finer moments for Nemes in the studio were during rehearsals, when the band was just kicking around ideas and jamming.
    — Tina Eves, SPIN, 1 July 2026
  • No balls were kicked around, but a first impression was made about a pitch that’s cropped tighter than a Pebble Beach fairway yet in impressive shape after four games over 11 days.
    — Cam Inman, Mercury News, 25 June 2026
Definition of kick around

Browse Nearby Words

messaging
mess around
messed
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Cite this Entry

“Mess around.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mess%20around. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of mess around for Spanish Speakers

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