play fast and loose
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Be irresponsible.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Besides, it is playing fast and loose with the statistics to take 1981 as the baseline for the Government's claims.
The idea of a parents charter is not new; what is new is the brazenness with which the Government play fast and loose, spending taxpayers ' money on party political propaganda.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “play fast and loose” mean?
Be irresponsible.
Is “play fast and loose” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.