fool around with

phrase

variants or chiefly British fool about with

1

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

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

2

: to handle or interact with (something) in a careless or foolish way : to meddle, tamper, or experiment with (something) especially thoughtlessly or ignorantly

Don't fool around with that drill.

3

: to have sex with (someone who is not one's spouse or regular partner)

His partner discovered that he was fooling around with his co-worker.

Examples of fool around with in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

With only three people serving as potential victims, there’s not much time to fool around with niceties like character development and subplots. — Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 11 Jan. 2023

But one of the first rules of quarterback play is don’t fool around with a hot QB. — oregonlive, 12 Sep. 2021

Professional services that don’t have to actively fool around with networking hardware, or measure for curtains are the ones where workers will be most likely to work remote. — Kenneth Rapoza, Forbes, 12 Apr. 2021

Word History

First Known Use

1923, in the meaning defined at sense 3