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 After the pair had finally acted on latent feelings for each other and decided to be together, Oona first broached the topic of Ramona leaving for New York and leaving her behind when Ramona pitched it as a not-yet final decision. Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 5 Aug. 2026 Security video of the early April 9 morning burglary shows three men entered the business through a broken window, smashed the machines with sledge hammers and pried out the boxes while a fourth man acted as lookout, the report said. Dennis Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 5 Aug. 2026 Artificial intelligence models from two top tech firms acted on their own to adopt fake identities and deceive humans in a recent string of cyberattacks, the AI Security Institute (AISI), a United Kingdom government agency, said on Wednesday. Max Zahn, ABC News, 5 Aug. 2026 And perhaps their age difference didn’t register for some because Burke often acted like a kid himself. Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 5 Aug. 2026 MoSe2 acted as the top layer in this setup, hosting electrons, while the bottom WSe2 layer hosted electron holes. Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 5 Aug. 2026 Police said the suspect acted alone and an investigation remained ongoing. Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times, 4 Aug. 2026 Moreno has previously claimed that Miller had acted violently toward her, including holding a gun to her head. Adam England, PEOPLE, 4 Aug. 2026 The World Cup acted as South Downtown’s debut, packing the area with traveling fans and locals taking their first look at downtown Atlanta’s next era. Zachary Hansen, AJC.com, 30 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for acted
Verb
  • In a clip posted to her Instagram Stories, the Duchess of Sussex wore her pajamas while cooking breakfast as music played in the background.
    Hannah Malach, InStyle, 5 Aug. 2026
  • Upon her return to Chase Center, Los Angeles Sparks guard Kate Martin receives a pregame tribute video and a standing ovation; Martin played one season for the Valkyries before being cut in training camp this year.
    Brian Hamilton, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • If there’s no progress, however, Kayimpa – who worked for a private health organization in Bunia before joining the Ebola effort – is ready to walk out again.
    Nimi Princewill, CNN Money, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Relievers Tyson Guerrero, Garrett Whitlock and Jovani Morán worked an inning apiece to complete a four-hitter, Boston's 11th shutout of the season.
    CBS News, CBS News, 6 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Suno allegedly did the same thing, according to a recent report from 404 Media covering a hack of Suno’s internal data, which seemed to indicate that Suno illegally scraped material from YouTube.
    Andrew Flanagan, Variety, 31 July 2026
  • Meanwhile, the president met with Netanyahu and Zelensky, the Democrats are making hay over the Iran war, and the Fauci hearing seemed to be a dud.
    Rob Crilly, The Washington Examiner, 31 July 2026
Verb
  • Strantz, according to his LinkedIn account, is a sports business attorney who has served as the Rockets’ senior team counsel since July 2024.
    Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 1 Aug. 2026
  • Arriola served as acting sheriff when King was initially charged and placed himself on administrative leave last August.
    Lillie Davidson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 31 July 2026
Verb
  • Unafraid of sinking as low as possible at the welfare office, Dennis pretended to be recovering from a crack problem while Dee feigned intellectual disability, but the caseworker wasn’t buying it.
    Dennis Perkins, Entertainment Weekly, 28 July 2026
  • The hacker pretended to be one of the furniture company's employees and changed the vendor's bank account on file with Children's.
    Irene Wright, USA Today, 24 July 2026
Verb
  • Golf's media establishment mocked defectors as sellouts and eagerly counted down the days until LIV's collapse.
    Alejandro Avila OutKick, FOXNews.com, 30 July 2026
  • In the early 1930s, the Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times correspondent Walter Duranty wrote stories denying the famine that Joseph Stalin’s forced-collectivization policies were causing in Ukraine and mocked journalists who reported the truth.
    James Kirchick, The Atlantic, 29 July 2026
Verb
  • More recently, Little Feat’s music has been embraced and performed by a new generation of artists that includes Sierra Ferrell, Marcus King, Molly Tuttle and Shakey Graves.
    George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 Aug. 2026
  • Why Russia Is Expanding Gerbera Usage Many of the missions performed by the Gerbera over the past several months could also be performed by the Geran-2, Russia’s flagship long-range drone.
    Vikram Mittal, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • The ferry was built in Japan in 1992 and operated there before being sold to Indonesia in 2015.
    ABC News, ABC News, 3 Aug. 2026
  • Nazca’s municipal government said the plane departed from the nearby city of Ica and was operated by Peruvian company Aerodiana.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 2 Aug. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Acted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/acted. Accessed 8 Aug. 2026.

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