mess with

phrasal verb

messed with; messing with; messes with

informal

1

: to cause trouble for (someone) : to deal with (someone) in a way that may cause anger or violence

I wouldn't want to mess with him.

You'd better not be messing with me.

2

chiefly US : to deal with or be involved with (something that causes or that could cause trouble)

The company doesn't want to mess with small distributors.

He doesn't want to mess with cocaine anymore.

3

: to handle or play with (something) in a careless way : to mess around with (something)

Don't mess with the camera.

Examples of mess with in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And because the show doesn't stop messing with your head, the finale offers a fever-dream of a cliffhanger, with Dan waking up in 1994, after the fires. —James Mercadante, EW.com, 22 Aug. 2025

While Hernández has struggled on defense in right field, Betts' struggles this year have been on offense, which might reasonably lead one to believe that becoming a shortstop so late in his career has messed with his offensive routines. —Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Aug. 2025

There’s also no messing with a good thing: Chicken and waffles was popularized in Harlem in the 1930s, and at Sylvia’s, the dish is as good as ever. —Harrison Hill, AFAR Media, 19 Aug. 2025

Texas Democrats leave state to block redistricting vote Democratic lawmakers in Texas have a message for their Republican counterparts: Don’t mess with the state’s congressional districts. —Rebecca Morin, USA Today, 4 Aug. 2025