to mess around
111
4.1
- phrasal verb
- /mɛs əˈraʊnd/
- Informal
:
perder el tiempo
- So let's try this again, but this time we're going to mess around with the manual settings first.
In those days, you didn't mess around, you bluff prayed and grabbed.
- In those days, you didn't mess around, you bluff prayed and grabbed.
- And I said, I just messed around till I found the right chords.
- Just an excuse to mess around and have a good laugh.
- Like, come on, come on, let's not mess around, OK?
- And, you know, so it's we can kind of mess around with it.
- Quantum entanglement does not let you mess around, sorry.
Examples
-
After finishing his homework, he decided to mess around with his guitar instead of studying.
-
For like four hours, I'm just messing around in there.
Fiction book (1995) -
Well, I would mess around in the ring since I was a little, little kid.
-
Just an excuse to mess around and have a good laugh.
-
We are lucky to have a lab where we can mess around and make mistakes.
-
All he did was mess around in his shed all day, filling boxes and trash bags.
Fiction book (2000) -
I don't know if kids are messing around or what, but I'm about to find out.
-
At first, I messed around in Tinkercad to see how a charm might be designed.
Academic text (2014) -
On sunny afternoons, we like to mess around in the backyard, playing games and enjoying each other's company.
-
During the summer break, the kids would mess around at the park, exploring and having fun.
Synonyms
946
2.4
To spend time relaxing or talking with friends
407
2.0
To stay in a place without doing anything important
350
1.1
To spend time sitting and doing very little without a clear purpose
75
9.9
To waste time or act carelessly
47
3.4
To try something in a casual playful way without being serious
46
3.6
Act in a silly, playful way instead of working
43
3.7
To spend time doing nothing useful
11
7.0
To spend time doing small, not important jobs in a relaxed way
9
3.7
Move around slowly in a place without any clear purpose, often in a group
7
5.3
To move around a place without a clear reason, often in a group
5
6.5
To spend time doing small, not important tasks slowly without a clear plan
5
3.8
To relax and do very little
4
7.3
Waste time by acting silly instead of working
3
5.9
To spend time somewhere doing nothing special
3
7.9
Spend time doing very little or nothing
3
8.4
To spend time doing not important things in a relaxed way
2
8.6
To spend time doing very little and moving around without plans
2
9.5
To waste time instead of doing the work you need
1
8.7
To spend time doing things that are not important
1
8.7
To waste time doing small unimportant things
1
9.2
To spend time doing small unimportant things 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
4.4
To spend time doing very little and relaxing
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
9.9
To waste time doing unimportant or silly things instead of doing something important
1
9.9
To waste time doing silly or lazy things instead of useful work
1
9.9
To waste time instead of doing something useful
To spend time doing small unimportant things with no real plan
Spend time or money on unimportant things
To waste time on small unimportant things
To waste time instead of doing something useful
Move around without a plan to have fun
To act in a silly, playful way instead of being serious
Antonyms
How Idle
728
1.6
- Informal
111
4.1
- Informal
42
4.6
- Informal
407
2.0
- Informal
41
4.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'mess' (to behave carelessly or create disorder) with 'around' (aimlessly/about), so a learner who knows both words can infer 'spend time doing random or idle activities'. This is a common verb+particle construction with a straightforward compositional sense and cross-linguistic equivalents, making it immediately comprehensible to B1 learners.
Etymology
Mess around comes from the image of someone making a small mess while moving around, trying things without a plan. That's why it now means 'to spend time doing random activities or wasting time'.