MESSING AROUND Synonyms: 118 Similar and Opposite Words

messing around

verb

present participle of mess around

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

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

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

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 messing around And, the school wasn’t messing around with the secretiveness of the open practice for those who either received a ticket or media members in attendance. — Trey Wallace Outkick, FOXNews.com, 12 Aug. 2026 The buckle on the Jordan clogs is a great touch, and the arch support isn’t messing around. — Annie Blackman, InStyle, 9 Aug. 2026 The Chicago Cubs weren’t messing around at the trade deadline. — Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune, 5 Aug. 2026 His first two features were loose, low-budget films starring himself and made by messing around with friends; they were built on spontaneity and the belief that a movie reveals itself in the edit. — Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 29 July 2026 That sounds way better than messing around with a complex spider web of pole segments, elastic cords, sleeves and clips. — New Atlas, 9 July 2026 Kylian liked messing around, having a laugh and telling jokes — just like the rest of us. — Tom Williams, New York Times, 16 June 2026 All of our memories are traveling the world, messing around, having fun, and being teenagers. — Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 22 May 2026 The Lakers weren’t messing around during the film sessions or practices. — Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for messing around

Verb

The service got its name from the original Mechanical Turk, an 18th century chess-playing robot that was actually controlled by a human chess master.

— Annie Palmer, CNBC, 26 Aug. 2026
If your dog has any dental issues, playing any type of pulling game is not advisable.

— BestReviews, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of playing

Verb

However, with Martinez pushing to leave again and flirting with Juventus, Villa decided to grant him his wish and brought in Zion Suzuki from Parma as his replacement.

— David Ornstein, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026
In the 1974 song, Parton sings about a woman flirting with her man.

— Giovana Gelhoren, InStyle, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of flirting

Verb

Jiwan Jyoti, a US citizen, was traveling with Himalayan Glacier Adventure and Travel Company and has been listed by the group as missing.

— Sophie Tanno, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2026
Go Beyond the 4x4 Of course, traveling by Icelandic truck is part of the thrill, but the adventure extends well beyond the vehicle itself.

— Gwen Nicol, Travel + Leisure, 29 Aug. 2026

Definition of traveling

Verb

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
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

Definition of fooling around

Verb

For creators, attending a Grand Slam can signal something to their audiences beyond an interest in tennis; for brands, the appeal lies partly in associating themselves with that cachet.

— Jessica Schiffer, Vogue, 25 Aug. 2026
On the one hand, associating Russia with the Eurasian steppe is a political move.

— Foreign Affairs, Foreign Affairs, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of associating

Verb

President James Garfield’s assassin, Charles Guiteau, died by hanging about five months after he was convicted of murder.

— USA Today, USA Today, 17 June 2026
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

Definition of hanging about

Verb

Schroeder’s sister Georgi Aubin and Clark’s friend Rob Evors denied sleeping together in the season, but were caught on a hot mic talking about hooking up for months.

— McKinley Franklin, HollywoodReporter, 6 Aug. 2026
The mood is already ruined after you get busted hooking up in a bar's bathroom.

— Sean Joseph OutKick, FOXNews.com, 5 Aug. 2026

Definition of hooking up

Verb

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
Within the venue gates but outside the stands, groups of friends were playing cornhole and having picnic dinners from food trucks parked onsite; older attendees were chatting and kids were kicking around mini soccer balls.

— Jared Kaufman, Twin Cities, 7 July 2026

Definition of kicking around

Browse Nearby Words

messing

messing around

messing over

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Cite this Entry

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“Messing around.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/messing%20around. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of messing around

verb

Example Sentences

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