ACT OUT Synonyms: 40 Similar and Opposite Words

act out

verb

as in to misconduct

to behave badly because his parents spent so much time with his chronically ill sister, the boy resorted to acting out in order to get attention

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Recent Examples of act out Furthermore, writing and acting out plays about their experiences with type 1 diabetes also eases children’s anxieties around their condition. —

Elizabeth McClure, The Orlando Sentinel, 12 Mar. 2026 The 98th Academy Awards will nevertheless be acting out of an abundance of caution, per Variety. —

Jami Ganz, New York Daily News, 12 Mar. 2026 But McNicholas said that the department is acting out of concern about public perception and to punish the officers for refusing to remove the plates when asked to do so by their superiors. —

Fedor Zarkhin, Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2026 The tune was generated using AI music generator Suno, with the accompanying content created by the team at Particle6, used new techniques around performance capture, with Particle6 founder Eline van der Velden acting out Tilly’s performance. —

Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 10 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for act out

Recent Examples of Synonyms for act out

Verb

South Windsor police have charged Rodriguez with evading responsibility, disobeying the signal of an officer, reckless driving, engaging police in pursuit and improper use of a marker, license or registration.

— Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 17 Mar. 2026
Michael Schade, who works in the department’s traffic division, said most e-bike accidents were caused by riders disobeying basic traffic rules, like running red lights and not stopping at stop signs.

— Alissa Gary, Sun Sentinel, 12 Mar. 2026