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Synonyms

mess with

Idioms  

  1. Interfere or associate with; also, annoy, bother. For example, Our group won't mess with those street musicians, or I told him not to mess with me or there would be trouble. [Colloquial; c. 1900]

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.

But any attempt to mess with roads or car parks comes loaded with risk.

From BBC • Feb. 25, 2026

Ronnie Chieng plays a more successful agent who loves, or lives, to mess with Monica.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2026

In reality, no one is going to put the malocchio on you if you mess with the menu.

From Salon • Dec. 14, 2025

“When you mess with Mother Nature, there are some things beyond our control,” said Nuttall, who works part time as a podcast host.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 4, 2025

“This community is about family! Canal Grove has always been about family. And now you want this guy who knows nothing about us to come in here and mess with our family?”

From "The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora" by Pablo Cartaya

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.