mess about vs hang around

mess about and hang around both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
mess about	No	No	Yes	No
hang around	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, mess about and hang around are synonyms defined as:

mess about and hang around: be about a place without any apparent purpose

Other synonyms of mess about include footle, lallygag, linger, loaf, loiter, lollygag, lounge, lurk, mill about, mill around, tarry.

mess about (verb)	hang around (verb)
be about a place without any apparent purpose	be about a place without any apparent purpose