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messing around
| Main Entry: |
mess around
|
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | fiddle; goof off |
| Synonyms: | amuse oneself, dabble, dawdle, doodle, fool around, loiter, muck around, play, play around, play the fool, potter, puddle, putter, tinker, trifle |
| Antonyms: | labor, toil, work |
| Main Entry: | dabble |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | play at; tinker |
| Synonyms: | amuse oneself with, be amateur, dally, dilly-dally, fiddle with, flirt with, horse around, idle, kid around, mess around, monkey around, monkey*, muck around, not be serious, play, play around, play games with, toy with, trifle, trifle with, work superficially |
| Antonyms: | take seriously |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | experiment |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | investigate, test |
| Synonyms: | analyze, assay, diagnose, examine, explore, fool with, futz around, mess around, play around with, practice with, probe, prove, put to the test, research, sample, scrutinize, search, shake down, speculate, study, try, try on, try on for size, try out, venture, verify, weigh |
| Main Entry: | fiddle |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | mess with, tinker |
| Synonyms: | dabble, doodle, feel, fidget, finger, fool, handle, interfere, mess, mess around, monkey*, play, potter, puddle, putter, tamper, touch, toy, trifle, twiddle |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | fool around |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | waste time |
| Synonyms: | dawdle, hang around, idle, kill time, lark, mess around, play around |
| Antonyms: | labor, toil, work |
| Main Entry: | goof off |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | avoid work |
| Synonyms: | bum around, coast, diddle, dog it, doodle, drag one's feet, featherbed, fiddle around, fluff off, fool around, hang around, hang out, horse around, lollygag, mess around, monkey around, putz around, screw off, shirk, slack, take it easy |
| Main Entry: | meddle |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | intervene, interfere |
| Synonyms: | abuse rights, advance, barge in, break in on, busybody, butt in, chime in, come uninvited, crash the gates, dabble in, encroach, encumber, fool with, hinder, horn in, impede, impose, infringe, inquire, interlope, intermeddle, interpose, intrude, invade, kibitz, mess around, mix in, molest, obtrude, pry, push in, put two cents in, sidewalk-superintend, snoop, stick nose in, tamper, trespass, worm in |
| Notes: | meddle means to intrude or interfere in other people's affairs or business; mettle is the courage and fortitude to carry on; a medal is a piece of metal in the form of a coin intended to be used as an award for winning a championship or commemorating some other event |
| Antonyms: | avoid, dodge, ignore, stay out of |
| Main Entry: | play |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | have fun |
| Synonyms: | amuse oneself, be life of party, caper, carouse, carry on, cavort, clown, cut capers, cut up, dally, dance, disport, divert, entertain oneself, fool around, frisk, frolic, gambol, go on a spree, horse around, idle away, joke, jump, kibitz, kick up heels, let go, let loose, let one's hair down, make merry, mess around, rejoice, revel, romp, show off, skip, sport, toy, trifle |
| Antonyms: | work |
| Main Entry: | putter |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | dawdle |
| Synonyms: | doodle, fiddle, fritter, goof around, loiter, mess, mess around, niggle, poke*, potter, puddle, shuffle around, tinker |
| Antonyms: | execute |
* = informal/non-formal usage
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
