play around

idiom

1
: to have sex with someone who is not one's husband, wife, or regular partner
He's not the kind of guy who plays around.
often + on
She's been playing around on her husband.
often + with
She's been playing around with one of her coworkers.
2
: to deal with or treat something in a careless way
When it comes to protecting his family, he doesn't play around.
often + with
You can't play around with diabetes; it's a very serious disease.
3
: to use or do something in a way that is not very serious
It's time to stop playing around and get busy.
often + on
I spent the evening playing around on the piano/computer/Internet.
often + with
I'm not really a painter; I just like to play around with paints.
4
: to move or change something or to think about something in different ways often in order to find out what would work best
+ with
I see you've been playing around with the living room furniture again.
The supervisor played around with our work schedules this week.
We played around with the idea for a while but eventually realized that it just wouldn't work.

Examples of play around in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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.
This team member needed to be taught more about the program, shown training materials or given non-priority work tasks that would give him the freedom to experiment and play around with the programming to get a better grasp of the application. Janine Schindler, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025 But Agnes has a bit of a dual personality, which is cool to play around with. Lisa De Los Reyes, HollywoodReporter, 8 Sep. 2025 Mirren will have the chance to play around with Maeve — and share the screen with Brosnan — some more. Eric Andersson, People.com, 22 Aug. 2025 Long balls from the goalkeeper to the forwards is one way to do it, but pre-season has shown their willingness to bait the press and play around it with sharp passing interchanges. Elias Burke, New York Times, 15 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for play around

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Cite this Entry

“Play around.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/play%20around. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.

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