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]

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

play around

I think some people want to remix and play around with music, but I don’t know how much they really want to do that.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026

Don’t restrict yourself to one kind of cheese — play around with your flavors and throw in two, three, even four varieties of fromage.

From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026

As long as you have enough money to live on with your other sources of income, plus a 12-month emergency fund, you have enough time to play around with.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 26, 2026

In a break in play around the half-hour mark, Mikey Moore, exciting, dangerous and 18 years old, juggled the ball around the halfway line.

From BBC ● Mar. 1, 2026

Of course, this aspect of mathematics isn’t very well known even to the numerate, since it’s necessary to have some mathematical ideas first before you can play around with them.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos