# Messing

/ˈmɛsɪŋ/ (US) · /mˈɛsɪŋ/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/messing
Updated: 2026-08-15

## Senses

### 1. behaving sillily

verb · CEFR B1 · Informal

to spend time doing things that are not useful or to behave in a silly way.

For teachers: to engage in idle or frivolous activity; often used with 'around' or 'about'.

- Stop messing around and finish your homework before dinner.
- The supervisor warned the interns that if they continued messing about during the safety briefing, they would be dismissed from the site.

Usage: Usually followed by the particles 'around' or 'about'.

Teaching tip: This is very common in spoken English to tell someone to be serious.

### 2. interfering with something

verb · CEFR B2 · Informal

to touch or change something in a way that might damage it or cause problems.

For teachers: to interfere with or meddle in something, typically without permission or necessary skill.

- I think someone has been messing with my computer settings because the screen looks different.
- The technician advised the homeowner against messing with the internal wiring, as it could void the manufacturer's warranty.

Usage: Usually takes the preposition 'with'.

Teaching tip: Often implies that the person doing the 'messing' doesn't really know what they are doing.

### 3. treating someone unfairly

verb · CEFR B2 · Informal

to treat someone badly or be dishonest with them, often by changing your mind or making things difficult.

For teachers: to treat someone in a deceptive, manipulative, or inconsiderate manner.

- He keeps changing the date of our meeting; I feel like he is just messing with me.
- The agency was accused of messing people around by promising jobs that never actually existed.

Usage: Often used as 'messing with [someone]' or 'messing [someone] around'.

Teaching tip: In British English, 'messing someone around' is the standard way to say someone is wasting your time.

## Examples

- Stop messing with the remote control.
- The children were messing around in the backyard instead of finishing their homework before dinner.
- By messing with the delicate internal calibration of the sensor, the technician inadvertently compromised the integrity of the entire data set, necessitating a full system reset.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.