1
as in to play
to spend time in aimless activity
spent the vacation day just messing around
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of mess around
Hopefully that means more than just an introductory area to mess around in.
—
David Jagneaux, Forbes.com, 24 July 2025
With Joe Maddon as his manager for the first half of his career, Hendricks was provided room to screw up — messing around with his mechanics and pitch arsenal — to become a top-end starting pitcher who helped the Chicago Cubs claim the 2016 World Series.
—Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2025
Instead, one of them is messing around on the road, causing a driver to swerve, crash and fall off a cliff into the water.
—Brendan Morrow, USA Today, 18 July 2025
For a while now, Spider-Man fans have been hoping that Tom Holland’s MCU version, after messing around with galactic battles and the multiverse, may go back to his roots.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 14 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for mess around
David Jagneaux, Forbes.com, 24 July 2025
With Joe Maddon as his manager for the first half of his career, Hendricks was provided room to screw up — messing around with his mechanics and pitch arsenal — to become a top-end starting pitcher who helped the Chicago Cubs claim the 2016 World Series.
—Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2025
Instead, one of them is messing around on the road, causing a driver to swerve, crash and fall off a cliff into the water.
—Brendan Morrow, USA Today, 18 July 2025
For a while now, Spider-Man fans have been hoping that Tom Holland’s MCU version, after messing around with galactic battles and the multiverse, may go back to his roots.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 14 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for mess around
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mess around
Verb
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Triste was mixed by Chris Coady and features contributions from drummer Josh Freese and guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, with whom Lenchantin previously played in A Perfect Circle.—
Walden Green,
Pitchfork,
20 Aug. 2025
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Staff members raved about Jackson’s performance, with some viewing him as a bigger version of Abe Camara, who played nickel last year for TCU.—
Steven Johnson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
19 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The first Trump administration flirted with the idea of designating the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization.—
Josh Hammer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 Aug. 2025
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Twice this season the Milwaukee Brewers have flirted with a 12 game winning streak but fell short, until their Aug. 13 12-5 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.—
Ricardo Torres,
jsonline.com,
14 Aug. 2025
Verb
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On the last day of the season, Athletic Club will travel to the Santiago Bernabéu to take on Real Madrid.—
Vitas Carosella,
Forbes.com,
15 Aug. 2025
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In 1971, President Richard Nixon met with the Emperor of Japan on the tarmac in Anchorage as Hirohito traveled to Europe for meetings.—
Trevor Hughes,
USA Today,
15 Aug. 2025
Verb
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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
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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
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Some oral and throat cancers are also associated with HPV infection.—
Katia Hetter,
CNN Money,
14 Aug. 2025
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From the outside, maternal instincts may be most associated with care and compassion.—
Pia Lauritzen,
Forbes.com,
14 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Peters was running for Colorado secretary of state at the time of the indictment, and attracted significant attention over the case.—
Kathryn Palmer,
USA Today,
22 Aug. 2025
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Beam, a 2025 Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame inductee, said the distillery runs five days a week, pumping out more than 150 barrels each day.—
Olivia Evans,
The Courier-Journal,
22 Aug. 2025
Verb
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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
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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
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Torres' account in the Times is just one of an increasing number of stories about people bonding with AI in new ways, both negatively and positively.—
Jillian Frankel,
People.com,
19 Aug. 2025
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Under Lewis’ coaching, Moten said the defensive tackles are bonding and becoming a strong unit.—
Adam Lichtenstein,
Sun Sentinel,
19 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Mess around.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mess%20around. Accessed 26 Aug. 2025.
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