as in raised 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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Recent Examples of acted out
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
At trial, prosecutors argued the brothers acted out of greed, eager to secure their parents' multimillion-dollar estate.
—Robert Alexander, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Aug. 2025
Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 21 Aug. 2025
At trial, prosecutors argued the brothers acted out of greed, eager to secure their parents' multimillion-dollar estate.
—Robert Alexander, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for acted out
Verb
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In general, those with lithium-ion or lithium-metal batteries should also be carried on board, where flight crews can recognize and respond to lithium battery fires, according to the FAA.—
Eve Chen,
USA Today,
5 Sep. 2025
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Despite these incidents, the tradition persisted, and each new Clay Henry has carried on the mantle.—
Tiffani Jackson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
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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
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Jordan, now a teen-ager, lives with his mother in Phoenix and has rebelled by becoming a punk rocker.—
Rob Reiner,
New Yorker,
27 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Acted out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/acted%20out. Accessed 8 Sep. 2025.
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