mucking about
Fooling around aimlessly
Mucking about is British slang for wasting time or engaging in aimless activity: Stop mucking about and finish your homework.
It can also mean joking around or not being serious: I'm not mucking about—this is important.
The phrase suggests idle or frivolous behavior, sometimes with a hint of mischief.
Americans more often say messing around.
- horseplayBoisterous rough behavior
- prankingPlaying harmless tricks
- clowningPlayful comic behavior
- frolicLighthearted playful movement
- shenanigansMischievous or deceitful behavior
skylarking · having a laugh · pottering · tomfoolery · acting up · carrying on · jesting · dawdling · play · goofing off · monkeying around · fiddling · improvising · experimenting · dabbling · noodling · dilly-dallying · killing time
- horseplayroughhousing, hijinks, antics, horseplay, clowning around
- fiddlingfiddling, fiddle, fiddler, fiddle tune, fiddle tunes
- dawdlingdawdling, dallying, dilly-dallying, lingering, loitering
mucking aboutfocusing
Concentrating on one point
concentrating · applying oneself · getting down to business · buckling down · knuckling down
mucking aboutaccomplishing
Successfully finishing an undertaking
getting things done · achieving · making progress · delivering · performing
about, muck, mucky, muddying, mucking, mucked, mucker, muckiness, muckers