1
as in fiddling (around)
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 flirting
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 traveling
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 messing around
The Lakers weren’t messing around during the film sessions or practices.
—
Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2026
Following the global success of The Housemaid, Lionsgate is not messing around with its upcoming sequel.
—Justin Kroll, Deadline, 23 Mar. 2026
So, get ready to travel to Sweden for a taste of adolescence full of smiles, tears, dancing, messing around – and skateboards.
—Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 12 Mar. 2026
Guerin has a history of going straight to his final offer — not messing around.
—Michael Russo, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2026
Morgan had been messing around with a curveball, but didn’t actually throw it until a workout at Petco Park a week before the draft.
—Jeff Sanders, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Feb. 2026
Advertisement Soon afterward, however, at a Red Bull event in Austria, Goepper began messing around on a quarterpipe.
—Sean Gregory, Time, 18 Feb. 2026
Most people are messing around charging far too little for clients who don't appreciate them.
—Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 25 Jan. 2026
No messing around — just wham, bam, thank you, GLAM!
—Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 20 Jan. 2026
Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2026
Following the global success of The Housemaid, Lionsgate is not messing around with its upcoming sequel.
—Justin Kroll, Deadline, 23 Mar. 2026
So, get ready to travel to Sweden for a taste of adolescence full of smiles, tears, dancing, messing around – and skateboards.
—Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 12 Mar. 2026
Guerin has a history of going straight to his final offer — not messing around.
—Michael Russo, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2026
Morgan had been messing around with a curveball, but didn’t actually throw it until a workout at Petco Park a week before the draft.
—Jeff Sanders, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Feb. 2026
Advertisement Soon afterward, however, at a Red Bull event in Austria, Goepper began messing around on a quarterpipe.
—Sean Gregory, Time, 18 Feb. 2026
Most people are messing around charging far too little for clients who don't appreciate them.
—Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 25 Jan. 2026
No messing around — just wham, bam, thank you, GLAM!
—Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 20 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for messing around
Verb
-
Harper scored 27 points off the bench, flirting with the Spurs’ playoff record for most in a game by a 20-year-old.—
Jeff McDonald,
San Antonio Express-News,
25 Apr. 2026
-
Anthropic has a habit of using dramatic, alarming-sounding language that can be tough to interrogate cleanly, including flirting with the idea that its Claude model might be conscious.—
Robert Hart,
The Verge,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
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After the match, Chelsea captain Reece James made a point of pushing McFarlane towards the travelling support to receive his congratulations.—
Cerys Jones,
New York Times,
25 Apr. 2026
-
Roughly 55% of people traveling along the avenue are doing so on a bus, city data says.—
Evan Simko-Bednarski,
New York Daily News,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
As the Ado Annie-like Betsy, a horny teen-ager whose father owns a shotgun, Kurtz is playing a character who should be, and kind of is, a one-joke punch line.—
Emily Nussbaum,
New Yorker,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Twin sisters Jordan and Jaedyn Gomez, playing for Boone, lost their second round individual bracket doubles match 6-0, 6-0 against Doral Academy’s top seeded duo of Payton Seidle-Lubowitz and Stefany Zamora.—
Buddy Collings,
The Orlando Sentinel,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Zeus did not approve of his daughter fooling around with this mortal roughneck hunter and put out a hit on Orion.—
Mike Lynch,
Twin Cities,
8 Mar. 2026
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The transition was rough for Ansari, who wasn’t fluent in English and often got in trouble for fooling around in school.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The British royal family seems to be trying really hard to distance itself from the Epstein scandal, and part of that involves the King and the major players not associating themselves with Andrew or Fergie again.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
14 Apr. 2026
-
Each embedding — a way of associating each point on the sphere to a point within the flag variety — can be defined by a polynomial equation.—
Konstantin Kakaes,
Quanta Magazine,
13 Apr. 2026
Verb
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This is one of the league’s best coaches and one of the league’s most prominent reporters hooking up for at least six years.—
Jon Root OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
24 Apr. 2026
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Like hooking up with your ex even though you’ll be left emotionally unraveling and picking up the pieces afterwards.—
Walden Green,
Pitchfork,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
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All this in an environment where politicians like Jeff Bridges (running for state treasurer who lives in the Cherry Creek school district) whine and snivel about his associates in the teachers’ union not having the funds to effectively teach our kids.—
DP Opinion,
Denver Post,
25 Apr. 2026
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The current controller, Malia Cohen, was elected in 2022 and is running for reelection against two candidates, union leader Meghann Adams and Herb Morgan, a chief investment officer.—
William Melhado,
Sacbee.com,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
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In 2019, city employees began hanging about 500 trick-or-treat pumpkin buckets in the trees on Main Street every October.—
Elliott Harrell,
Travel + Leisure,
18 Oct. 2025
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Orion Nebula Those viewing from a dark sky location may also notice a blurry patch of light hanging about 5 degrees below Orion's belt.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
14 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Messing around.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/messing%20around. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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