To waste time, behave in a playful or unfocused way, or treat someone without respect.
To play around doing nothing important, or to be dishonest and unfair to someone.
4 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
To waste time doing unimportant or silly things.
"We spent the whole morning just messing around instead of packing for the trip."
"Stop messing around and get serious about your future."
— Common parental/coaching expression widely attested in American informal speech.
To treat someone in a dishonest or inconsiderate way.
"Don't mess me around — just tell me if you want the job or not."
To casually experiment or tinker with something.
"She likes messing around with code on weekends just to see what she can build."
To be sexually unfaithful or to engage in casual sexual activity.
"She found out he had been messing around and ended the relationship."
To cause disorder (mess) in the surrounding area — idiomatically extended to mean wasting time or disrespecting someone.
To play around doing nothing important, or to be dishonest and unfair to someone.
The dominant form in American English. 'Mess someone around' means to treat them inconsiderately. Can also imply sexual infidelity in certain contexts ('he was messing around'). Widely used across all ages.
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
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