messing over

verb

present participle of mess over, slang
as in abusing
to inflict physical or emotional harm upon her no-good boyfriend has been messing her over for years

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for messing over
  1. abusing
  2. bullying
  3. kicking around
Verb
  • Berry’s ex-husband Olivier Martinez accused the actor of physically abusing their 12-year-old son last month.
    — Alexandra Del Rosario, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026
  • As reports of officers abusing Flock have made headlines and the company has become increasingly controversial, hundreds of cities and counties have ended or suspended their contracts with the company, or decided not to renew them.
    — Greg Rosalsky, NPR, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of abusing
Verb
  • Grande had been the subject of a wave of speculation, concern and bullying regarding her physical appearance following images of the actress-singer going viral in late July.
    — James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 30 Sep. 2026
  • But Gresko, who alleges that some of her older children had also experienced bullying at the school, says the school never contacted her.
    — Brian Brant, PEOPLE, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of bullying
Verb
  • If there had been a Season 2, Uziel was already kicking around some ideas.
    — Michael Schneider, Variety, 10 Sep. 2026
  • The fantasy of a cultural architecture that’s as flexible as culture itself has been kicking around for more than 100 years, and there’s something obscurely disappointing about seeing a technocratic version get put into practice.
    — Justin Davidson, Curbed, 29 July 2026
Definition of kicking around
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.

Browse Nearby Words

messing around
messing over
messing (up)
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Cite this Entry

“Messing over.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/messing%20over. Accessed 4 Oct. 2026.

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