mess around with

VERB

tamper

Synonyms

STRONGEST

meddle monkey with tinker

STRONG

busybody change cook cut damage destroy diversify doctor fool interlope interpose intrude irrigate manipulate plant spike vary water

WEAK

butt in fiddle with horn in monkey around muck about phony up poke nose into

Antonyms

STRONG

improve leave alone remain repair stay

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.

Those Creoles don’t mess around with their potato salad.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 13, 2026

“We have an ironclad rule at IMAX, which is that our word is our word and we won’t mess around with that,” the CEO said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 7, 2025

That's where the treasure is, when you can mess around with that edge and see where it is.

From Salon • Sep. 18, 2024

But for the time being, I bought him a pocket synthesizer to mess around with.

From New York Times • Jun. 6, 2024

“I think it was the big-brother talk. ‘Don’t mess around with my sister’ and all that.”

From "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth

mess around with

Example Sentences

Related Words