mess around en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
Meanings
-
(informal) To fiddle idly.
The kids sat there messing around with leaves and blades of grass because they were bored.
These guys don't mess around! They finished the whole job in ten minutes.
-
(informal) To joke, kid, or play.
Hey, don't take it personally. I was only messing around.
Don't mess around with electricity if you don't understand it.
-
(informal) To have a sexual relationship, especially one which is noncommittal.
Rumor has it that he's messing around with his secretary.
She grew up as the pretty young thing / Let them look up her skirt on the backyard swing, oh no / And Daddy told you to stay indoors / And I can understand how a girl gets bored / Too old to play and too young to mess around
2016, Lucy Dacus, “Troublemaker Doppelgänger”, in No Burden, Matador Records:
- (dated, qualifier:African-American Vernacular, slang) To dance.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| messing around | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| messes around | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| messed around | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| messed around | Tense=Past | lexicographic |
Relateds
Synonyms
faff about (fiddle idly) · waste time (fiddle idly) · dick around (fiddle idly) · mess about (all senses)
Translations (7)
es boludear (To fiddle idly, to waste time) · eo stultumi (To fiddle idly, to waste time) · de herumgammeln (To fiddle idly, to waste time) · mi mahi āniwa (To fiddle idly, to waste time) · pl bałaganić (To fiddle idly, to waste time) · de herumspielen (To fiddle idly, to waste time) · fr faire l’idiot (To fiddle idly, to waste time)