acted

past tense of act
1
2
as in worked
to produce a desired effect the painkiller acted surprisingly quickly

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

3
4
as in served
to have a certain purpose the tail feathers of woodpeckers act as props while the birds excavate tree trunks for insects

Synonyms & Similar Words

5
6
as in mocked
to pretend to be (what one is not) in appearance or behavior someone who is willing to act the helpless little thing when she wants attention

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 acted Accordingly, the Court expressly finds that Plaintiffs acted in bad faith. Katherine Faulders, ABC News, 13 July 2026 This is the army’s effort to modernize how battlefield information is collected, transmitted, and acted upon. Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 11 July 2026 But while law enforcement acted swiftly, the two institutions that enabled these transactions have accepted no responsibility. Ari Maas, New York Daily News, 11 July 2026 Prepon acted in The Girl on the Train (2016) with Emily Blunt and The Hero (2017) with Sam Elliott. Gwen Ihnat, Entertainment Weekly, 11 July 2026 And senators haven't acted on a companion measure, waiting to see the political reaction to the House version. Ximena Bustillo, NPR, 10 July 2026 Both the uniform player contract and CBA contain language that permits Silver to punish Leonard if the commissioner concludes Leonard acted wrongly. Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 10 July 2026 After some past shootings by immigration officers, including those in Minneapolis of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, federal officials’ accounts that the officers acted in self-defense have been contradicted by video evidence. Andrea Castillo, Los Angeles Times, 10 July 2026 But the village then countered that Hanson’s predecessors and other significant parties had always relied upon and acted as if the original easement agreement were valid. Hank Beckman, Chicago Tribune, 10 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for acted
Verb
  • Haiti became the first team in FIFA history to qualify without having played one game at home due to gangs’ takeover of its national stadium and the violence in Port-au-Prince.
    Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 15 July 2026
  • Julian Dennison stars as the troubled Ricky Baker, a kid who ends up on the run with an irascible old man, played by Sam Neill.
    Brian Tallerico, Vulture, 14 July 2026
Verb
  • Brown’s wife was Bruneau’s best friend at the time of the victim’s death, and both women worked as flight attendants for Braniff Airlines, a Grapevine police detective wrote in an arrest warrant affidavit filed in June.
    Amy McDaniel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 July 2026
  • Part of what makes AI so useful in health and medicine is that the technology excels at identifying trends in large swaths of data, said Jason Droege, CEO of Scale AI, which worked with Mayo Clinic to develop Record Time.
    Clare Duffy, CNN Money, 16 July 2026
Verb
  • Thiero’s confidence seemed to grow from that point on, his play for the Lakers during their Las Vegas Summer League opener at the Thomas & Mack Center a sign of his development.
    Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times, 11 July 2026
  • On the field, every at-bat — including a run of 33 consecutive hitless plate appearances — seemed to end in frustration.
    Jesús Cano, New York Times, 10 July 2026
Verb
  • Echo Park residents are mourning the closure of Burrito King, a 58-year-old late-night institution that served generations as a neighborhood anchor, social hub and unofficial after-hours stand.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 10 July 2026
  • The recent owner also stripped out interior flourishes added in the late 1990s, when the home served as the Pasadena Showcase House.
    David Hochman, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026
Verb
  • Barcenas' tea-sipping celebration was a tribute to Alex Morgan, one of the Wave's owners, who pretended to take a sip of tea after scoring in a match against England during the 2019 Women's World Cup.
    ABC News, ABC News, 4 July 2026
  • As the video ended, the actor held Mauz up and pretended to play him like an air guitar.
    Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 1 July 2026
Verb
  • The remaining readers are marginalized, mocked, and in many ways irrelevant.
    Rose Horowitch, The Atlantic, 8 July 2026
  • More than 200 people were arrested in protest marches and anti-terror raids, including academics, lawyers, and journalists; a comedian who mocked President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was held at the airport.
    Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 7 July 2026
Verb
  • Court reporters say the job can be performed only by a human being, who can intervene to ensure everyone is heard and who bears responsibility if a transcript is missing or incomplete.
    Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026
  • Atlas performed a series of soccer moves developed using a combination of motion retargeting, reinforcement learning and whole-body control.
    Clemente Lisi, Forbes.com, 6 July 2026
Verb
  • Luis Mauricio Flores Ordonez, 33, was charged with owning an unregistered aircraft that was operated by another person.
    Kelly O'Donnell, NBC news, 5 July 2026
  • For days, the US and its fans had operated under the assumption that there was no mechanism for the striker to have his suspension erased.
    Wayne Sterling, CNN Money, 5 July 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Acted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/acted. Accessed 17 Jul. 2026.

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