1
as in played
to spend time in aimless activity
spent the vacation day just messing around
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in flirted
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 associated
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
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Recent Examples of messed around
In the email, Dixon suggested that the fire department employee may have messed around with the department's equipment.
—
Adam Thompson, CBS News, 5 Feb. 2026
Adam Thompson, CBS News, 5 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for messed around
Verb
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Every one of the NFL’s 32 teams has played a regular-season game outside the United States and is signed up to the league’s Global Markets Program.—
Tom Chitty,
CNBC,
15 Feb. 2026
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Savolainen played a huge role in Finland’s historic run in the 2019 hockey women’s world championship, in which the country made it to the final against the United States who, along with Canada, had previously dominated the competition and its gold medal matches.—
Hannah Ryan,
CNN Money,
14 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The same disaster that flirted with Canada early in the day was sniffing around Team USA on Wednesday.—
Steve Conroy,
Boston Herald,
18 Feb. 2026
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Oh, and Tools for Humanity is also a crypto purveyor that flirted with, and then ditched, the idea of providing a universal basic income.—
Billy Perrigo,
Time,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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In a social media post on X, Huffines said the property has been renamed San Rafael Ranch after a saint associated with healing and that his family plans to operate a Christian retreat there.—
Susan Montoya Bryan,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Feb. 2026
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The sleepwear violates the mandatory flammability standards for children's sleepwear, which protect young children from death and serious burn injuries associated with the ignition of sleepwear garments, according to the regulatory agency's website.—
Michelle Del Rey,
USA Today,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Not too long ago, artificial intelligence was more or less a science project in which data scientists and developers fooled around with one-off small or test projects.—
Joe McKendrick,
Forbes.com,
26 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The family of four often traveled domestically to new places together, drove short distances to visit family and frequented amusement parks – but all of that has come to a pause in the height of uncertainty surrounding immigration operations throughout the state.—
Alisha Ebrahimji,
CNN Money,
17 Feb. 2026
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Zwierzyński traveled from Poland to attend the celebration.—
Shafiq Najib,
ABC News,
16 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Hungary receives Russian crude oil through the Druzhba pipeline, which runs through Ukraine, but it is also connected to the Adria pipeline, which runs through Croatia and pumps non-Russian crude oil from the Adriatic coast.—
Christian Edwards,
CNN Money,
16 Feb. 2026
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African Americans and first-, second-, third-generation Africans are telling stories connected to the continent.—
Patrick Brzeski,
HollywoodReporter,
15 Feb. 2026
Verb
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He was hooked up to an IV along with several monitors and his arm and hand were bandaged.—
Ashley Hume , Larry Fink,
FOXNews.com,
7 Feb. 2026
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It is not hooked up to the truck, not level, blocking a fire hydrant, and the stairs are set up in possibly the worst way to access the clinic.—
R29 Team,
Refinery29,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
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There, he was prescribed brimhana, or tissue regeneration, using a bolus therapy made from goat meat mixed with rice, milk, and spices.—
Mark Ellwood,
Robb Report,
14 Feb. 2026
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Software Software stocks — which were at the center of a historic sell-off just last week — also got caught up in Thursday's drawdown, but were mixed on Friday morning.—
Chloe Taylor,
CNBC,
13 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Messed around.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/messed%20around. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.
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