1
as in to play
to spend time in aimless activity
spent the vacation day just messing around
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to flirt
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 to travel
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 mess around
Around March, during a session with Allen and Slatkin, Maddell started messing around with chords to pair with an acoustic that Slatkin had at the ready.
—
Josh Glicksman, Billboard, 12 Aug. 2025
Randall Art likes to mess around sometimes.
—Keith Pandolfi, The Enquirer, 12 Aug. 2025
So for example Joule, our digital assistant, cannot mess around with compliance checks on travel and on sourcing, or on directing the flow of materials.
—Tharin Pillay, Time, 4 Aug. 2025
And this slasher Santa Claus doesn't mess around, using an axe and a shotgun with deadly intention and also down for impaling people on deer antlers.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 26 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for mess around
Josh Glicksman, Billboard, 12 Aug. 2025
Randall Art likes to mess around sometimes.
—Keith Pandolfi, The Enquirer, 12 Aug. 2025
So for example Joule, our digital assistant, cannot mess around with compliance checks on travel and on sourcing, or on directing the flow of materials.
—Tharin Pillay, Time, 4 Aug. 2025
And this slasher Santa Claus doesn't mess around, using an axe and a shotgun with deadly intention and also down for impaling people on deer antlers.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 26 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for mess around
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mess around
Verb
-
Fashion and sociology experts say that, when examining the significance of any bold fashion statement such as Robbie's, context plays an important role.—
Charles Trepany,
USA Today,
13 Sep. 2025
-
The Yankees played an integral part in the remembrance of 9/11.—
Ross O'Keefe,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond briefly flirted with 5 percent this week but has risen over the past month much less than other government bonds.—
George Calhoun,
Forbes.com,
7 Sep. 2025
-
Deeper Conversation People who flirt through deeper conversation are likely prioritizing emotional connections.—
Essence,
Essence,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Reporter Duaa Eldeib interviewed Sutton-Schulman and L multiple times and traveled to North Carolina for additional reporting.—
Duaa Eldeib,
ProPublica,
10 Sep. 2025
-
Who isn't searching for Japan travel?—
Monica Pitrelli,
CNBC,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Gisin hopes that by fooling around with measurements of these more exotic states, physicists will come to better understand the role of measurement in general.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
8 Aug. 2025
-
Those have come from two players: Adrian Morejon of the San Diego Padres, who throws an odd knuckleball-changeup hybrid about 1 percent of the time, and Jonah Bride of the Minnesota Twins, an infielder fooling around with the knuckler in blowouts.—
Cody Stavenhagen,
New York Times,
19 June 2025
Verb
-
Of course, with a luxury experience also comes a luxurious price tag and the cost of tickets won’t be the kind of budget fares people most associate with bus travel.—
Opheli Garcia Lawler,
Travel + Leisure,
8 Sep. 2025
-
Consuming 400 grams of dairy daily was associated with a 2% increase in risk.—
Merve Ceylan,
Health,
7 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
EDTIn a press conference, authorities shared security camera footage of the gunman running across a roof and jumping down from a building before leaving the Utah Valley University campus.—
Zachary Folk,
Forbes.com,
12 Sep. 2025
-
The design leans rustic (give or take a couple of Togo chairs), with moss green paneling, tartan upholstery, and wood beams running throughout.—
Elly Leavitt,
Vogue,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Sizes Tablecloths should hang about 8-16 inches on each side for formal dining and about 3-6 inches on each side for casual dining.—
BestReviews,
Mercury News,
10 June 2025
-
Most asteroids hang about in the Mars to Jupiter region, and the ones near Earth obviously hang about a bit closer.—
Dana Taylor,
USA TODAY,
2 Oct. 2024
Verb
-
The comedic Hulu murder-mystery series follows neighbors Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short) and Mabel (Selena Gomez), who bond over their love for true crime and launch a podcast detailing all the murder investigations in their ritzy New York City building.—
Caroline Blair,
PEOPLE,
10 Sep. 2025
-
The two 10GbE ports can be bonded using link aggregation which means a NAS device could be accessed at speeds up to 20Gb/s, all from a laptop with a Thunderbolt 5 port.—
Mark Sparrow,
Forbes.com,
9 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Mess around.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mess%20around. Accessed 15 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share