Skip to content
ARCHIEENGLISH
LearnPlayWordsRanking
  • Learn
  • Play
  • Words
  • Ranking
  • Mine
← Vocabulary

mess about

phraseB22 meaningsinformal · an editor’s judgementNot compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

To mess about is to waste time in a silly way. Not working, and not really playing either.

It is thoroughly British and thoroughly informal. There is a second and sharper sense, since to mess about somebody means wasting their time and changing plans repeatedly, which is a real complaint about a company or a person. And there is a lovely gentle use from a children's book about messing about in boats, which means doing something pleasant with no purpose at all.

Definitions of mess about

  1. 1phrasemess aboutTo waste time doing nothing useful.B2

    “Do not mess about — we leave in ten minutes.”

  2. 2phrasetreatTo treat somebody inconsiderately by changing plans.C1

    “They will mess about anybody who does not complain.”

Also accepted in games: mess around

Practised in Phrasal Verbs, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 7 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word