mess around
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"It was this or nothing. You can't mess around, or you'll burn your eyes."
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
Instead they have banded together in a rare display of gentle mockery of an organization that doesn’t mess around.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
“If you’re gonna mess around with the vanilla or chocolate concha, think twice about it,” the user warned.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2025
"Alan makes a good point about how everyone wants to mess around on the ball these days," Sutton explained.
From BBC ● Nov. 13, 2025
They had peeled back the shirt and the arm was whitely soft where they had cleaned it and there was a mess around the shoulder.
From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara
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.
