play around

Idioms  

1. Act playfully or irresponsibly, especially in having a casual or extramarital sexual relationship. For example, She got tired of his playing around and filed for divorce. [1920s]

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Example Sentences

He managed that with some brilliant scrambling and play around the greens.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026

"We are two men of 80 years of age, so we cannot play around with democracy," he said.

From Barron's • Feb. 22, 2026

Elsewhere in Gabland: It was reported that Gabbard “obtained” voting machines from Puerto Rico to play around with them and look for security vulnerabilities.

From Slate • Feb. 7, 2026

The Social Security Administration can give you estimates as to what benefits would be at different ages, and offers benefit calculators to let you play around with the numbers.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 13, 2025

“If Billy had a home like Manderley he would not want to play around in Palm Beach,” she said.

From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier