mess about
Britishverb
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(intr) to occupy oneself trivially; potter
-
to interfere or meddle (with)
-
to engage in adultery
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“He’s a very rich character to play. He’s a complex, contradictory, troubled human who’s got these extraordinary abilities, so there’s potent stuff to mess about with,” Cumberbatch said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2025
My hair was a mess about a month ago; I was looking like Moses in “The Ten Commandments.”
From New York Times ● Jan. 26, 2023
Intended mostly as B-movies, they don’t mess about.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 25, 2020
Being a hot mess about homework in late middle and early high school is a time-honored tradition, and your teenagers are engaged in two of its most classic variations.
From Slate ● Jul. 2, 2020
Everybody knew I lived there, and even though I wasn't the only kid at school from that neighborhood, it seemed like I caught the most mess about it.
From "Ghost" by Jason Reynolds
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
