Mess with
Mess with verb - To handle thoughtlessly, ignorantly, or mischievously.
Tease
Tease verb - To make fun of in a good-natured way.
Mutual synonyms
Both terms in one sentence
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Ship Tease: Tony/Ziva and McGee/Abby are two shipping groups the writers especially love to mess with.
Source: Series / NCIS -
Then there's the massive amount of Ship Tease in the story, much of which seems to exist solely to mess with the heads of the readers.
Source: Teasing Creator - The Tease: The rest of the Mane Six tend to fake flirt with Andrew just to mess with his head.
Source: Fan Fic / Hands
Cite this Source
Tease and Mess with. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/mess_with/tease
Mess with & Tease. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/mess_with/tease>.
Tease or Mess with. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/mess_with/tease.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "mess with" and "tease" have occurred on timeline