monkey around vs mess around

monkey around and mess around both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
monkey around	No	No	Yes	No
mess around	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, monkey around and mess around are synonyms defined as:

monkey around and mess around: do random, unplanned work or activities or spend time idly

Other synonyms of monkey around include monkey, muck about, muck around, potter, putter, tinker.

monkey around (verb)	mess around (verb)
do random, unplanned work or activities or spend time idly	do random, unplanned work or activities or spend time idly