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 During his time in Mexico, federal prosecutors allege, Gomez acted as an intermediary supplier of narcotics to multiple drug organizations, including Wedding’s. — Los Angeles Times, 11 Nov. 2026 DeSantis and the Legislature acted in blatant defiance of that language. — Orlando Sentinel, The Orlando Sentinel, 11 Nov. 2026 The House, by a 211-204 margin, approved a measure that will refer the impeachment resolution to a committee, leaving little time for it to be acted on before Democrats take over in January. — Leonie Kidd, CNBC, 11 Nov. 2026 The resolution says Hegseth acted in violation of the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which allows the president to use force without congressional authorization in narrow circumstances. — Stefan Becket, CBS News, 10 Nov. 2026 Jordan, an Ohio Republican who helped found the hardline Freedom Caucus, acted as a foil to his predecessors in House GOP leadership before rising up himself as a Judiciary Committee leader. — Nicholas Wu, semafor.com, 10 Nov. 2026 Under current law, companies must pay the full cost of a wildfire started by their equipment, even if the utility acted reasonably and followed its wildfire plan, which the report said is unusual among states. — Stephen Hobbs, Sacbee.com, 10 Nov. 2026 Over the phone, the veteran says he’s never acted with anyone quite like Essiedu. — Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair, 10 Nov. 2026 The Falcons saw the same thing their fan base did and acted with pragmatism. — Ken Sugiura, AJC.com, 10 Nov. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for acted
Verb
  • Federal district judges, even at the risk of physical threats, played a key role by throttling unconstitutional White House efforts to seize state voting records, curtail mail-in voting and manipulate the count in Alaska.
    — James D. Zirin, Washington Post, 8 Nov. 2026
  • That is underscored by the fact that Democrats also certainly played a role in getting the word out about Amendment 3.
    — Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 Nov. 2026
Verb
  • Kelly, who lost to High in the primaries and later worked full time for him, attributed the defeat to general discontent with the Democratic party.
    — Roger Simmons, The Orlando Sentinel, 2 Nov. 2026
  • The reigning Academy of Country Music’s Entertainer of the Year, who was a rodeo cowboy in his youth, has worked with Justin Boots on a collection of men’s boots.
    — Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 2 Nov. 2026
Verb
  • And at least for two quarters, the Bulls seemed to successfully execute a plan to dismantle one of the best teams in the West.
    — Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 12 Nov. 2026
  • The highest points of 2022’s Nymph, Shygirl’s full-length debut, seemed to herald the coronation of an art-pop auteur.
    — Walden Green, Pitchfork, 11 Nov. 2026
Verb
  • Those platforms have mainly served as research aircraft or high-altitude pseudo-satellites.
    — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 12 Nov. 2026
  • The house has since served as a family home, a Red Cross property, and Magnolia Mansion, a boutique hotel and event venue, before ERG Enterprises acquired it in 2023.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 12 Nov. 2026
Verb
  • In 17 of those 19 times, the chatbot cited one of the outlets that pretended to be a local news site.
    — Huo Jingnan, NPR, 30 Oct. 2026
  • Prosecutors said Navarrete then drove to his parents’ home with his children and pretended to discovered his parents were dead.
    — Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 19 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • That same year, democratic socialist upstarts Hugo Soto-Martínez and Eunisses Hernandez won City Council seats, despite a lack of support from Chicanosauruses who mocked their chances.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 10 Nov. 2026
  • With the annual Veterans Day observance being marked this week, perhaps veterans had their revenge after being mocked by the president and saw programs targeted for them stripped of funding.
    — Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 9 Nov. 2026
Verb
  • Chazi Rutz, a professional skydiver from Arizona, told The Times that the two skydivers were part of a group training to set a California record for largest formation in the upright orientation performed by women.
    — Iris Kwok Follow Nov. 6, Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2026
  • The 2012 edition showed us there was genuine appetite for Dracula in audio, and that the epistolary structure of letters and diary entries actually works beautifully when performed by multiple voices.
    — Lexy Perez, HollywoodReporter, 6 Nov. 2026
Verb
  • Threats were also made against a Prague-to-Bucharest, Romania, flight operated by Romanian carrier Tarom, and a Ryanair flight from the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, to Rome.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 7 Nov. 2026
  • The complication is that about 95% of the world’s 46,000 McDonald’s restaurants are owned and operated by franchisees — and some have pushed back against a proposal that could require $650,000 to $800,000 of investment per store.
    — Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 6 Nov. 2026

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Acted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/acted. Accessed 13 Nov. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!