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
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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
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Recent Examples of act up
Bruce, as the stunt shark built to menace them is nicknamed, is acting up and delaying the acting itself.
—
Christopher Smith, Oc Register, 10 Mar. 2026
Meanwhile, the guests, who have literally just arrived five minutes ago, are already acting up.
—Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 10 Mar. 2026
Excess dust may also cause your allergies to act up.
—Madeline Buiano, Martha Stewart, 22 Feb. 2026
Koutouvides transitioned to life after football, found success in real estate development throughout Connecticut, but the pain of losing the Super Bowl twinges and acts up like an old joint injury.
—Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 8 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for act up
Christopher Smith, Oc Register, 10 Mar. 2026
Meanwhile, the guests, who have literally just arrived five minutes ago, are already acting up.
—Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 10 Mar. 2026
Excess dust may also cause your allergies to act up.
—Madeline Buiano, Martha Stewart, 22 Feb. 2026
Koutouvides transitioned to life after football, found success in real estate development throughout Connecticut, but the pain of losing the Super Bowl twinges and acts up like an old joint injury.
—Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 8 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for act up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for act up
Verb
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The statement accused Blake of acting out of retaliation for an incident that occurred earlier in the lacrosse season.—
Ryan Canfield OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
12 June 2026
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If sung through onstage, the singer would have to act out a complete narrative.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
12 June 2026
Verb
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Its asymmetrical riff on the classic bucket hat takes the usual cut up a notch.—
Gretta Monahan,
Boston Herald,
18 June 2026
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The new non-stop flights will cut up to four hours off travel time compared to current one-stop services.—
Michael Goldstein,
Forbes.com,
18 June 2026
Verb
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In addition, referees were instructed to apply the rules regarding fouls and misconducts more strictly – a move meant to protect players and their inventiveness.—
Cesar R. Torres,
The Conversation,
26 May 2026
Verb
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Elastico There’s a bit of showing off going on here — but in a good way.—
Stuart James,
New York Times,
16 June 2026
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The city of Fort Worth wants to show off its proposals for how to regulate data centers.—
Harrison Mantas,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
15 June 2026
Verb
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Santana-Mateo was booked on charges of breach of peace, engaging police in a pursuit, disobeying the direction of officer, reckless driving, failure to obey a stop sign, failure to drive right, failure to obey a traffic control signal and driving the wrong way on a one way.—
Staff Report,
Hartford Courant,
17 June 2026
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In 2024, the agency claimed that X security staff sometimes had to pointedly disobey Musk in order to remain in compliance.—
Ashley Belanger,
ArsTechnica,
4 June 2026
Verb
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Ortiz navigated past 17 other horses around the final turn and made a hard charge down the stretch.—
Stephen Whyno,
The Orlando Sentinel,
3 May 2026
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Ortiz navigated past 17 other horses around the final turn and made a hard charge down the stretch.—
Stephen Whyno,
Chicago Tribune,
2 May 2026
Verb
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One was Buck Strickland, Hank Hill’s philandering boss, who has many of LBJ’s characteristics including carrying on conversations while on the toilet.—
Stephen Rodrick,
Rolling Stone,
16 June 2026
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His children carry on the broadcast tradition as the Phantom Gourmet brothers.—
Rick Sobey,
Boston Herald,
15 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Act up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/act%20up. Accessed 22 Jun. 2026.
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