mess about
verb
Forms messes about messing about messed about
- verb (intransitive) To misbehave “Kids! Stop messing about and do your work!”
- verb (intransitive) To be in a casual non-committal relationship “Anna and I are just messing about; this isn't going to last.”
- verb (transitive) To play with; to toy with; to waste the time of (a person). “Stop messing me about and give me a straight answer!”
Synonyms
mess around loiter lounge footle lollygag loaf lallygag hang around tarry linger lurk mill about mill around
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “mess about”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details