screw around
To waste time being silly or irresponsible, or to be unfaithful to a partner.
Meanings
To waste time doing nothing productive, or to behave in an irresponsible, unfocused way.
"The teacher told the class to stop screwing around and open their textbooks."
To be sexually unfaithful to a partner.
"She found out he had been screwing around behind her back for months."
To tamper with or interfere carelessly with something.
"Don't screw around with the firewall settings unless you know what you're doing."
Mildly vulgar. The sexual infidelity sense is common but should be used carefully. 'Screwing around with' something means tampering carelessly (e.g. 'stop screwing around with the settings'). More common in American English.
Commonly used with
Forms
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Synonyms
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