CEFR B2

muck about

phrasal verb

Meaning

Spend time in an aimless, unproductive, or playful way.

Synonyms: mess around, fool around, dally, dawdle

phrasal verb

Pronunciation: /mʌk əˈbaʊt/

Spend time in an aimless, unproductive, or playful way.

Stop mucking about and get your homework done before dinner.
We were just mucking about at the park when we found the old map.
He spent his entire summer mucking about on his boat instead of looking for a job.

muck about + [no object] (intransitive): Used as a command to tell someone to stop wasting time. — "Stop mucking about and start working."
muck about + with + [noun] (transitive): To touch or change something in a way that might cause damage. — "He was mucking about with the engine."

Words with a similar meaning to muck about: