mess around
verb
messed around; messing around; messes around
intransitive verb
1
: to waste time : dawdle, idle
2
a
: associate
didn't mess around with gangs
b
: flirt, philander
Synonyms
- doodle
- fiddle (around)
- fool around
- fribble
- goof (around)
- hang about [British]
- kick around
- monkey (around)
- play
- potter (around)
- putter (around)
- trifle
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
spent the vacation day just messing around a guy who goes to the health club mainly to mess around with the women
Word History
First Known Use
1918, in the meaning defined at sense 1
messing around
verb
1
as in fooling around
to spend time in aimless activity spent the vacation day just messing around Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- fooling around
- hanging about
- playing
- fribbling
- fiddling (around)
- goofing (around)
- puttering (around)
- pottering (around)
- kicking around
- monkeying (around)
- doodling
- horsing around
- trifling
- lounging
- hanging (around or out)
- idling
- clowning (around)
- loafing
- dawdling
- diddling (with)
- dillydallying
- tinkering
- lolling
- dallying
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- settling (down)
- buckling (down)
- setting (to)
- knuckling down
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
- flirting
- frivoling
- frivolling
- trifling
- coquetting
- toying
- stringing along
- leading on
- putting on
- dallying
- wooing
- kidding
- teasing
- vamping
- courting
- playing (with)
- ribbing
- mashing
- fooling
- razzing
- manipulating
- joshing
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 Synonyms & Similar Words
- traveling
- hooking up
- associating
- running
- being friends with
- connecting
- mixing
- travelling
- bonding
- joining
- collaborating
- rubbing shoulders (with)
- hanging (around or out)
- relating
- taking up with
- palling (around)
- rubbing elbows (with)
- mingling
- falling in with
- sorting
- getting along
- keeping company (with)
- getting on
- consociating
- befriending
- consorting
- chumming
- companying
- fraternizing
- hobnobbing
- cooperating
- coupling
- grouping
- leaguing
- linking
- rallying
- tying
- attaching
- siding
- clubbing
- allying
- socializing
- teaming
- wedding
- friending
- affiliating
- knotting
- banding
- confederating
- interrelating
- conjoining
- colluding
- ganging
- tieing
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- avoiding
- splitting (up)
- shunning
- snubbing
- breaking up
- alienating
- estranging
- dispersing
- splitting
- cold-shouldering
- disbanding
- severing
- divorcing
- dissociating
- disjoining
- sundering
- disuniting