to mess
- verb
- /mɛs/
- Informal
- Then he says, "Class, don't mess with the only girl we've got in here!"
And I would just constantly mess with him all day long.
- And I would just constantly mess with him all day long.
- A mother, you don't mess with Mama bear when she's got Cubs.
- And that really messed with me for more than a decade.
- You know, my friend to, like, mess with my friend.
- All I know is you mess with me, you got problems.
- Look, if you blend in, nobody's going to mess with you, OK?
- These were hoaxes by people trying to just mess with us.
- And he just goes, are you messing with me?
- And so he's his first thought to mess with her.
- You know, as I wrote this character who's she's not to be messed around with.
- The fifth thing is I hope you know who you're messing with.
Examples
-
"You mess with Spidey, you mess with New York!" yells one man.
Academic text (2014) -
You have no idea who you're messing with.
-
All I know is you mess with me, you got problems.
-
And I think people understand now, you know that you mess with that family, what happens?
-
And I would just constantly mess with him all day long.
-
Will you just stop messing with me already?
-
Why you messing with us?
-
Listen, don't mess with my art, OK?
-
"You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us!" yells another.
Academic text (2014) -
If you continue to mess with my plans, I won't be happy.
Synonyms
To disturb or interrupt someone and make them feel annoyed
Make someone slightly angry or bothered by small repeated actions
To mess with someone's things or plans on purpose to cause trouble
To cause someone worry or bother
To start a fight or argument by annoying someone
Move something and make it untidy or broken
To make people feel strong emotions like anger or fear
To bother someone again and again
To get into a fight with another person or group
Antonyms
Idioms
To give up something very important for a small, quick gain
Phrasal Verbs
Compounds
How Aggressive
- NSFW
- Informal
Surface Forms
Etymology
To mess with someone, meaning to bother or provoke them, is like causing trouble or making a 'mess' in their life, so the verb keeps the idea of creating trouble.