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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of act up
Floral and spicy notes bring to mind a meadow in full bloom (without making your allergies act up, thankfully).
—
Danielle Sinay, Glamour, 28 May 2025
Clarke Schmidt’s back acted up, and then his shoulder.
—Brendan Kuty, The Athletic, 25 Mar. 2025
Is his palm injury acting up again, or the pressure to join the elite company of Jack Nicklaus, who won 3 times at The PLAYERS Championship?
—Mark Davis, Newsweek, 16 Mar. 2025
Mount Spurr, located about 75 miles West of Anchorage, has been acting up in recent weeks, prompting officials at the U.S. Geological Survey and Alaska Volcano Observatory to issue a yellow alert.
—Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY, 14 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for act up
Danielle Sinay, Glamour, 28 May 2025
Clarke Schmidt’s back acted up, and then his shoulder.
—Brendan Kuty, The Athletic, 25 Mar. 2025
Is his palm injury acting up again, or the pressure to join the elite company of Jack Nicklaus, who won 3 times at The PLAYERS Championship?
—Mark Davis, Newsweek, 16 Mar. 2025
Mount Spurr, located about 75 miles West of Anchorage, has been acting up in recent weeks, prompting officials at the U.S. Geological Survey and Alaska Volcano Observatory to issue a yellow alert.
—Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY, 14 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for act up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for act up
Verb
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Blanc specifically acts out moments from John Dickson Carr's The Hollow Man to illustrate the impossibility of the crime.—
Esther Zuckerman,
Time,
8 Sep. 2025
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His brittle mum Heather (a heartbreaking and frustrating Shirley Henderson) is barely holding things together as is, and then John starts, well, acting out?—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
7 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The statue of Abraham Lincoln by Mount Rushmore creator Gutzon Borglum was cut up to be sold for its silver content, according to the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana.—
Mark Price,
Miami Herald,
12 Sep. 2025
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Born Drew Desbordes, Druski, 30, is a long way from the kid who spent his time at the dinner table cutting up.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The clip jumps between a bedroom, a record store, a disco, and even a basketball court, and sees all seven members of the South Korean boy band – RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook — showing off tight choreography, for which they are known.—
Hugh McIntyre,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
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Barker included a photo of Rocky — who was wearing a T-shirt and green and white sweatpants — showing off his curiosity by looking up at a sign of what appeared to be a yeti.—
Charna Flam,
People.com,
11 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Running or horsing around with sparklers can also cause injuries and burns when users trip and fall.—
Justin Laube,
EverydayHealth.com,
2 July 2025
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Heath Ryan, who represented Australia in dressage at the 2008 Olympics, can be seen in the video – which the rider said is about two years old – hitting a horse around 40 times.—
Matias Grez,
CNN Money,
13 June 2025
Verb
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Hamas has called on residents of Gaza City to disobey the evacuation order.—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
8 Sep. 2025
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Fischer faces charges of first-degree reckless endangerment, interfering with an officer, reckless driving, disobeying traffic control signals, failure to drive in the proper lane, disobeying the signal of an officer, failure to display plates and engaging police in a pursuit.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
18 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Big thanks to Betty Lin-Fisher and Baily Schulz for carrying on in our absence.—
Daniel de Visé,
USA Today,
16 Sep. 2025
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All that carrying on caused the rusty metal trap to cut further into his leg, which caused a terrible infection.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
PEOPLE,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Redford rebelled against his father’s cautiousness and indeed against all expectations, even after the family moved to the more upscale Van Nuys.—
Stephen Galloway,
HollywoodReporter,
16 Sep. 2025
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Ali—or Richard Durham channeling Ali—would write just months after the fight that some part of him had always rebelled against the primal allure of his sport.—
Vann R. Newkirk II,
The Atlantic,
16 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Act up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/act%20up. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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