messing around

verb

present participle of mess around
1
as in fiddling (around)
to spend time in aimless activity spent the vacation day just messing around

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 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 messing around There will be no more messing around with draggy eye pencils or the emperor’s new eye shadows. — Elizabeth Siegel, Allure, 17 Sep. 2026 Both of France’s sons seem to appreciate imaginative play over messing around with action figures, something that makes perfect sense given France’s own love for the arts. — Marah Eakin, Vulture, 8 Sep. 2026 Take note at the point in a song when the real dancers stop messing around. — Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2026 Shortly after Bednar began messing around with a splitter, Eric Junge, San Diego’s pitching coordinator, informed him that Hideo Nomo had arrived in camp. — Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 6 Sep. 2026 These folks aren’t messing around; everyone is willing to shell out for the best possible experience. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 5 Sep. 2026 And, the school wasn’t messing around with the secretiveness of the open practice for those who either received a ticket or media members in attendance. — Trey Wallace Outkick, FOXNews.com, 12 Aug. 2026 The buckle on the Jordan clogs is a great touch, and the arch support isn’t messing around. — Annie Blackman, InStyle, 9 Aug. 2026 The Chicago Cubs weren’t messing around at the trade deadline. — Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune, 5 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for messing around
  1. playing
  2. flirting
  3. traveling
  4. fooling around
  5. associating
  6. hanging about
  7. hooking up
  8. kicking around
Verb
  • Antetokounmpo totaled 10 points on 2-of-3 shooting from the field and 6-of-8 shooting from the foul line, two rebounds, one assist and one steal while playing only 11 minutes in Saturday’s first half.
    — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 25 Oct. 2026
  • The practice involves writing down your intrusive thoughts and fears, and even recording yourself talking about them, and playing that recording back to yourself.
    — Ava Kofman, New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of playing
Verb
  • Without it, growth would have slowed to a mere fraction of a percentage point, leaving the economy nearly stagnant and flirting with recession.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2026
  • The benchmark 10-year note spent the day flirting with the psychologically important 5% level as oil prices surged and a fresh consumer survey showed that inflation expectations remain a good distance above the Federal Reserve's 2% goal.
    — Jeff Cox, CNBC, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of flirting
Verb
  • Pradasphere, the first permanent exhibition dedicated to Prada after earlier traveling iterations in 2014 in London and Hong Kong, and in 2023 in Shanghai, definitely reflects this cross-pollination of influences.
    — Luisa Zargani, Footwear News, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Storms capable of causing hail and wind damage were traveling through central Arizona early Thursday, with some flood watches and the possibility of tornadoes, the National Weather Service said.
    — Wufei Yu, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of traveling
Verb
  • 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
  • The transition was rough for Ansari, who wasn’t fluent in English and often got in trouble for fooling around in school.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2026
Definition of fooling around
Verb
  • Moments after sitting down at an outdoor table, Oppenheim breathes in the ocean air and starts cheerfully free-associating.
    — Alex Barasch, Vulture, 19 Oct. 2026
  • These immediate, positive reinforcements can help the brain begin associating the healthier behavior with something rewarding.
    — Melissa Rudy, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of associating
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
  • In 2019, city employees began hanging about 500 trick-or-treat pumpkin buckets in the trees on Main Street every October.
    — Elliott Harrell, Travel + Leisure, 18 Oct. 2025
Definition of hanging about
Verb
  • In the finale, Esther visits Sasha at his home to drop something off for their daughter and the estranged couple ends up hooking up.
    — Lexi Carson, HollywoodReporter, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Barker recalled giving a mutual guy friend some dating advice about just having fun and hooking up with women, advising him to think of dating as a sport, while trying to not get too emotionally invested.
    — Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of hooking up
Verb
  • In other words, the idea of turning roads into giant wireless chargers has been kicking around for years, and some projects are now producing encouraging results rather than just concept illustrations.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask Laneige’s Lip Sleeping Mask has been kicking around Allure editors’ nightstands for years, and judging by its 2025 Readers’ Choice Award, plenty of you are just as hooked.
    — Christa Joanna Lee, Allure, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of kicking around

Browse Nearby Words

messing
messing around
messing over
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Cite this Entry

“Messing around.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/messing%20around. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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