to muck about
4
8.7
- phrasal verb
- /mʌk əˈbaʊt/
- UK
- We spent the afternoon mucking about in the park, playing frisbee and enjoying the sun.
Examples
-
I haven't got time to muck about.
-
Stop mucking about, you hear?
-
- You still mucking about in there?
-
So let's not muck about.
-
But no more mucking about with tools when I'm not around.
-
- I'm not mucking about here.
-
- Mimi, we were only mucking about.
-
I wasn't mucking about, you know?
-
Oh, stop mucking about.
-
Stop mucking about.
Synonyms
371
1.1
To spend time sitting and doing very little without a clear purpose
133
4.1
To spend time doing playful or unplanned activities
7
5.9
To spend time somewhere doing nothing special
7
7.0
To spend time doing small, not important jobs in a relaxed way
7
7.3
Waste time by acting silly instead of working
6
9.5
To waste time instead of doing the work you need
6
8.4
To spend time doing not important things in a relaxed way
4
7.9
Spend time doing very little or nothing
3
7.2
To waste time by doing small unimportant things
2
9.2
To spend time doing small unimportant things instead of working
2
8.7
To waste time doing small unimportant things
2
9.9
To waste time doing unimportant or silly things instead of doing something important
1
4.4
To spend time doing very little and relaxing
1
8.0
To play an instrument in a relaxed way without serious practice
1
7.1
To spend time idly on unimportant things
1
9.9
To waste time by behaving in a silly or unproductive way instead of working
1
6.5
To spend time slowly doing small simple jobs without hurry
1
3.4
To spend time lazily doing little or nothing
1
9.9
To spend time on small, unimportant tasks instead of getting things done
1
6.5
To move around slowly doing small jobs in no hurry
1
6.5
To spend time doing nothing in a lazy way
1
8.6
To spend time doing small unimportant things with no real plan
1
9.9
To waste time instead of doing something useful
1
8.6
To spend time doing very little and moving around without plans
1
8.6
Spend time or money on unimportant things
1
9.9
To waste time on small unimportant things
1
9.9
To waste time instead of doing something useful
1
9.9
To waste time doing silly or lazy things instead of useful work
To waste time doing small, unimportant things
To waste time instead of doing something useful
Antonyms
How Idle
Surface Forms
Morphology
muck + about
The sense 'to spend time doing unimportant things' is linked to 'muck' understood as 'mess' plus 'about' meaning 'around', so a learner who knows the verb sense of 'muck' ('to mess') could infer 'muck about' ≈ 'mess around'. However, 'muck' often appears primarily as 'dirt' and the verb sense is colloquial/regionally British, so the specific idiomatic usage is not fully predictable for a B1 learner without exposure.
Etymology
Muck about may come from a simple picture: to muck is to mess with dirt or mud, and to move about in it without a clear purpose. So, muck about came to mean 'to waste time' or 'to act without seriousness'.