as in to raise hell
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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of act out
So Kiritsis, while his plan is undeniably wacked, is still someone who’s been backed into a corner and is acting out of a fury that has justifiably boiled over.
—
Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 2 Sep. 2025
Sitting with the challenges that have shaped us, far from something negative, teaches us to notice when we are spurred to act out of scarcity and fear.
—Big Think, 1 Sep. 2025
Hank, in attempting to save himself, starts to act out a stereotype of his own, the Western loner who presumes to take on a hero’s mantle.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 28 Aug. 2025
Prosecutors argued the brothers acted out of greed, resorting to murder to get their multimillion-dollar inheritances before being cut out of their parents’ will.
—Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 21 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for act out
Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 2 Sep. 2025
Sitting with the challenges that have shaped us, far from something negative, teaches us to notice when we are spurred to act out of scarcity and fear.
—Big Think, 1 Sep. 2025
Hank, in attempting to save himself, starts to act out a stereotype of his own, the Western loner who presumes to take on a hero’s mantle.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 28 Aug. 2025
Prosecutors argued the brothers acted out of greed, resorting to murder to get their multimillion-dollar inheritances before being cut out of their parents’ will.
—Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 21 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for act out
Recent Examples of Synonyms for act out
Verb
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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
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Yet, shortly after the district court granted plaintiffs' emergency motion for a temporary restraining order, defendants appear to have disobeyed it.—
Peter Charalambous,
ABC News,
8 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Many patients often hear multiple voices carrying on a conversation about them.—
Kristen Rogers,
CNN Money,
2 Sep. 2025
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That said, the Browns are now heading into the 2025 NFL season with Ford set to take the load of the carries on the ground.—
James Brizuela,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Johnson, who struggles with a neuroma, swears by her Oofos mules to keep it from acting up.—
Jennifer Heimlich,
SELF,
29 Aug. 2025
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Millennials are all about heading to the doctor’s office when their guts start acting up—and both experts agreed that’s a positive thing.—
Alisa Hrustic,
Health,
29 July 2025
Verb
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An essay in The Dartmouth Review argues that the toga parties (based very much on truth) represented students from Miller's generation rebelling against conformity.—
Jordan Hoffman,
EW.com,
1 Sep. 2025
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Trump then walked back that threat after markets rebelled, and instead began critiquing Powell’s management of the Federal Reserve more widely—recently targeting its office renovations.—
Eleanor Pringle,
Fortune,
29 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Act out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/act%20out. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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