messes around

verb

present tense third-person singular of mess around
1
as in plays
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 flirts
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 travels
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

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 messes around Other standouts include a Maybelline mascara and a Black and Decker handheld vacuum, which makes quick work of small messes around the house and in the car. — Isabel Garcia, PEOPLE, 30 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for messes around
  1. plays
  2. flirts
  3. travels
  4. hangs about
  5. associates
  6. hooks up
  7. connects
  8. bonds
Verb
  • There is no doubt the quality of players that managers have available plays a massive part in how expressive their style becomes but as ideas go, Luis Enrique’s use of his wide players last season definitely set PSG apart.
    — Art de Roché, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Propulsion capacity grows The PAC-3 MSE’s propulsion system plays a critical role during an engagement.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of plays
Verb
  • Hal flirts with Kerry; John has an affair with Zoe (Poorna Jagannathan), the wife of William Macon (Garret Dillahunt), a local cattle mogul whose compound has more high tech weaponry than a mere human would seem to need.
    — Alison Herman, Variety, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Rachel dates a shoe store operator named Lou (Bob Hoskins), while Charlotte nurses a crush on her handsome young school bus driver and flirts with Catholicism to the chagrin of her Jewish mother.
    — David Faris, TheWeek, 17 July 2026
Definition of flirts
Verb
  • This woman travels constantly and has a taste for the finer things.
    — Eric Thomas, Sun Sentinel, 11 Sep. 2026
  • When an apple travels from the farm to a consumer's hands, the price tag reflects far more than just the fruit itself, accounting for labor, packaging, transportation, and energy costs.
    — , CNBC, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of travels
Verb
  • Though the sisters are supposedly first-generation Italian American, no whiff of the old country hangs about Kay; Dorothy will at least spit out a few words in Italian.
    — Television Critic, Los Angeles Times, 10 Mar. 2026
  • Turquoise pearl, and azure line the space, and a cylindrical hanging light sculpture made of hundreds of white and gold ceramic fish hangs about the lounge seating area.
    — Kristin Braswell, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Jan. 2026
Definition of hangs about
Verb
  • What being Southern meant to his father—and the values Duane associates with being a Southern gentleman.
    — Sid Evans, Southern Living, 11 Aug. 2026
  • The productivity boom everyone associates with the personal computer didn’t actually show up in the macro data until 15 years after the PC was commercialized.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 14 July 2026
Definition of associates
Verb
  • Tony contains details directly pulled from Kitchen Confidential, including a memorable moment in which one of the cooks (Leo Woodall) hooks up with a bride who visits the restaurant immediately following her own wedding.
    — Tommy McArdle, PEOPLE, 7 Aug. 2026
  • And Cody still comes out before the season starts and takes BP, hooks up the kids with some Nike stuff.
    — Tyler Kepner, New York Times, 17 July 2026
Definition of hooks up
Verb
  • There are a couple of moments in the film where Zumthor connects his work with his personal experience of wanting to create homes, a secure space to compensate for not feeling safe as a child.
    — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 6 Sep. 2026
  • The platform connects homebuyers with lenders offering various loans, including conventional, FHA and VA loans.
    — Dan Simms, USA Today, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of connects
Verb
  • The mop-haired actor plays Joey, a spunky boy onboard who bonds with Maddie over having absent parents in the military.
    — Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 18 Aug. 2026
  • Nigel Starck, too, argues that obituaries provide a glue that bonds society not in grief but in an aspirational reevaluation of our own lives.
    — Sam Roberts, Longreads, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of bonds

Browse Nearby Words

messes
messes around
messes over
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Cite this Entry

“Messes around.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/messes%20around. Accessed 15 Sep. 2026.

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