1
as in to act out
to behave badly
the two-year-old was acting up in church so much that her dad had to take her outside
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to cut up
to engage in attention-getting playful or boisterous behavior
you should have seen the boys acting up when they put on their aprons
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of act up
Sturm said his back started acting up after the team’s first practice.
—
Michael Russo, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
Mature parents do not slap their children across the face for acting up.
—Jeanne Phillips, Mercury News, 25 Sep. 2025
The kid acts up, the dad disciplines him and mom just sends a sorry text.
—Hannah Sacks, PEOPLE, 22 Sep. 2025
Then the engine started acting up, which would have cost up to $10,000 to fix.
—Shannon Pettypiece, NBC news, 22 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for act up
Michael Russo, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
Mature parents do not slap their children across the face for acting up.
—Jeanne Phillips, Mercury News, 25 Sep. 2025
The kid acts up, the dad disciplines him and mom just sends a sorry text.
—Hannah Sacks, PEOPLE, 22 Sep. 2025
Then the engine started acting up, which would have cost up to $10,000 to fix.
—Shannon Pettypiece, NBC news, 22 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for act up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for act up
Verb
-
The actors joked about how trying to put on medical gloves quickly enough while remembering and acting out dialogue can make scenes go sideways in a heartbeat.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Dec. 2025
-
Ordained to the Catholic priesthood in June, Jimenez was watching as parishioners acted out the Nativity scene during a posada, a Latin American tradition that reenacts Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem in search of shelter.—
Alex Riggins,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
25 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
ConocoPhillips announced plans to cut up to 25% of its global staff.—
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld,
Time,
5 Jan. 2026
-
Meanwhile, as all of this is happening, Meredith is cutting up with the other ladies at the spa, without a care in the world.—
Tom Smyth,
Vulture,
31 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
Moore turns her daughter around and shows off her backside, which is also covered in poop.—
Hannah Sacks,
PEOPLE,
9 Jan. 2026
-
The 21st annual Dine Downtown starts Friday, with more than 30 Sacramento restaurants showing off their chops with unique, limited-time prix fixe menus.—
Camila Pedrosa,
Sacbee.com,
9 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
The fact that on this occasion senior officers chose a very light touch, preserving still-new representative institutions while not directly disobeying a direct presidential order, is extraordinary – and deserves far more comment and commendation than has been received.—
Arthur I. Cyr,
Chicago Tribune,
20 Jan. 2026
-
But when Torre walked off the mound, first baseman Tino Martinez looked at Weathers and told him to disobey his manager.—
Brendan Kuty,
New York Times,
14 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
In April 2020, Iglesias shared a video of him horsing around with Lucy and Nicholas as the pair attempted to climb on his back for a ride.—
Andrea Wurzburger,
PEOPLE,
19 Jan. 2026
-
At this point in time, my little AI company, a lean and mean group of passionate believers, is horsing around fine-tuning the product, living on a couple of angel investments, where a 10X return on few million dollars is very satisfying, not only to the angel, but also to the employees.—
Neil Senturia,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
6 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Now the second generation is carrying on the same quality.—
Michael Guise,
CBS News,
21 Jan. 2026
-
Outside, the world carries on without him.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
20 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Act up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/act%20up. Accessed 23 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
