1
as in fiddling (around)
to spend time in aimless activity
spent the vacation day just messing around
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in flirting
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 traveling
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of messing around
Kylian liked messing around, having a laugh and telling jokes — just like the rest of us.
—
Tom Williams,
New York Times,
16 June 2026
All of our memories are traveling the world, messing around, having fun, and being teenagers.
—
Larisha Paul,
Rolling Stone,
22 May 2026
The Lakers weren’t messing around during the film sessions or practices.
—
Broderick Turner,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Apr. 2026
Following the global success of The Housemaid, Lionsgate is not messing around with its upcoming sequel.
—
Justin Kroll,
Deadline,
23 Mar. 2026
So, get ready to travel to Sweden for a taste of adolescence full of smiles, tears, dancing, messing around – and skateboards.
—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
12 Mar. 2026
Morgan had been messing around with a curveball, but didn’t actually throw it until a workout at Petco Park a week before the draft.
—
Jeff Sanders,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Feb. 2026
Advertisement Soon afterward, however, at a Red Bull event in Austria, Goepper began messing around on a quarterpipe.
—
Sean Gregory,
Time,
18 Feb. 2026
Most people are messing around charging far too little for clients who don't appreciate them.
—
Jodie Cook,
Forbes.com,
25 Jan. 2026
Tom Williams,
New York Times,
16 June 2026
All of our memories are traveling the world, messing around, having fun, and being teenagers.
—
Larisha Paul,
Rolling Stone,
22 May 2026
The Lakers weren’t messing around during the film sessions or practices.
—
Broderick Turner,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Apr. 2026
Following the global success of The Housemaid, Lionsgate is not messing around with its upcoming sequel.
—
Justin Kroll,
Deadline,
23 Mar. 2026
So, get ready to travel to Sweden for a taste of adolescence full of smiles, tears, dancing, messing around – and skateboards.
—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
12 Mar. 2026
Morgan had been messing around with a curveball, but didn’t actually throw it until a workout at Petco Park a week before the draft.
—
Jeff Sanders,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Feb. 2026
Advertisement Soon afterward, however, at a Red Bull event in Austria, Goepper began messing around on a quarterpipe.
—
Sean Gregory,
Time,
18 Feb. 2026
Most people are messing around charging far too little for clients who don't appreciate them.
—
Jodie Cook,
Forbes.com,
25 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for messing around
Verb
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Win prizes playing interactive games, network with artists and entrepreneurs and enjoy signature drinks and bar snacks available for purchase.
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Men leaders can pay attention to and be mindful of who in the workplace may be playing more of an emotional support role that falls outside their job description.
Verb
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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.
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Like Friday, when a rookie lefty was flirting with a no-hitter in the middle innings, Bennett held New York hitless until Schuemann’s two-out homer in the fifth.
Verb
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Production runs from a Los Angeles home base plus two traveling studios that move to the best matches each day, borrowing the fanfest grammar of Big Noon Kickoff.
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For those traveling in first class, the Coast Starlight offers a full dining car experience, with meals included throughout the journey.
Verb
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Zeus did not approve of his daughter fooling around with this mortal roughneck hunter and put out a hit on Orion.
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The transition was rough for Ansari, who wasn’t fluent in English and often got in trouble for fooling around in school.
Verb
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And somewhere in the mix is a new technology facility that many are associating with a data center.
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Campbell argues that Latchford’s donations helped bolster his credibility as a scholar by associating his name with top institutions.
Verb
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President James Garfield’s assassin, Charles Guiteau, died by hanging about five months after he was convicted of murder.
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In 2019, city employees began hanging about 500 trick-or-treat pumpkin buckets in the trees on Main Street every October.
Verb
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The term first popped up during the June 21 episode of Love Island USA, when Kenzie Annis and Corbin Mims were shown hooking up in bed.
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To make entertaining more fun, plug your speaker or outdoor TV into an electrical outlet, or make a frozen margarita after hooking up your blender.
Verb
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Some of the finer moments for Nemes in the studio were during rehearsals, when the band was just kicking around ideas and jamming.
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All told, it’s been a pretty spectacular and drama-free rollout for an idea that had been kicking around Hollywood for over 15 years.
Cite this Entry
“Messing around.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/messing%20around. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
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