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

Throughout his career, Soderbergh has sought out new technology and filmmaking techniques to play around with, lending his work an exciting sandbox quality where anything goes.

From Salon • Apr. 17, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 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

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

Then Papa said, “Amil, you can’t read. You play around too much and draw little pictures. You must be more serious or you will become nothing.”

From "The Night Diary" by Veera Hiranandani