mess around

mess around

intransitive verb

Definition of MESS AROUND

1

:  to waste time :  dawdle, idle

2

a :  associate <didn't mess around with gangs>

b :  flirt, philander

Examples of MESS AROUND

1. <spent the vacation day just messing around>
2. <a guy who goes to the health club mainly to mess around with the women>

First Known Use of MESS AROUND

1918

Related to MESS AROUND

Synonyms

doodle, fool around, fribble, goof (around), hang about [British], kick around, fiddle (around), monkey (around), play, potter (around), putter (around), trifle

Related Words

dally, dawdle, dillydally, hang (around or out), idle, loaf, loll, lounge; clown (around), horse around; diddle (with), tinker

Near Antonyms

buckle (down), knuckle down, set (to), settle (down)

Rhymes with MESS AROUND

aboveground, Afghan hound, all-around, battleground, been around, belowground, bottom round, breeding ground, bring around, cast around, common ground, decompound, dumping ground, end around, fool around, get around, go around, hang around, horse around, in the round, jerk around, kick around, middle ground, muscle-bound, Norton Sound, off the ground, on background, on the ground, outward-bound, paperbound, perfect-bound, proving ground, push around, quarter-bound, runaround, screw around, shootaround, sleep around, spiral-bound, staging ground, stand one's ground, steamship round, stick around, stomping ground, surround sound, turnaround, turn around, ultrasound, underground, weather-bound, work-around, wraparound