SCREWING AROUND Synonyms: 16 Similar Words

screwing around

verb

present participle of screw around

as in cheating

to be sexually unfaithful he hired a private detective because he thought his wife was screwing around

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 screwing around The informative thing was Lestat screwing around with me. — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 23 June 2026 Mercedes is truly not screwing around with the new EQS. — Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, 13 Apr. 2026 What if some big musician is screwing around at sound check and sings one of [Spinal Tap’s] songs. — Melinda Newman, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019

Recent Examples of Synonyms for screwing around

Verb

In this case, the reward was solving the ExploitGym questions and the hacking was literally hacking—cheating on the test and then hacking into Hugging Face in an effort to cover up the cheating (more on that below).

— Emily Forlini, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2026
The Model 3 and Model Y adopted less elaborate press-and-pivot handles, helping give the cars their clean, wind-cheating profiles.

— Peter Lyon, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2026

Definition of cheating

Verb

In a dash camera video shared by police, an officer can be seen stepping out quickly from a patrol vehicle as Ross was seen running in the street.

— Shambhavi Rimal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 Aug. 2026
Videos on the nonprofit’s website show children stepping out of luxury buses, walking between camp volunteers who welcome them with applause and cheers.

— Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times, 8 Aug. 2026

Definition of stepping out

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screwing

screwing around

screwing up

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“Screwing around.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/screwing%20around. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of screwing around

verb

Example Sentences

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