Alter
Mess with
Mess with verb - To handle thoughtlessly, ignorantly, or mischievously.
Usage example: please don't mess with the buttons on the camera
Mutual synonyms
Both terms in one sentence
- Console, but worse—way worse, actually, since PC manufacturers can alter the hardware but can't really mess with Windows.
Source: Mobile Phone Game -
It turns out 6 got wise to the dream tapping technique and fixed it so he could consciously alter his dream and mess with his captors' heads.
Source: Dramatic Unmask - In Smallville, Clark Kent adamantly tells Chloe that he cannot alter time when he chooses, as he's not a god and doesn't have the right to mess with other people's lives and/or fate.
Source: A God I Am Not
Cite this Source
Mess with and Alter. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 22, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/alter/mess_with
Alter & Mess with. N.p., 2016. Web. 22 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/alter/mess_with>.
Mess with or Alter. 2016. Accessed July 22, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/alter/mess_with.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "alter" and "mess with" have occurred on timeline