1
as in acted out
to behave badly
the two-year-old was acting up in church so much that her dad had to take her outside
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in cut up
to engage in attention-getting playful or boisterous behavior
you should have seen the boys acting up when they put on their aprons
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for acted up
Verb
-
Advocates say the footage undermines claims that agents acted out of fear for their lives, while federal officials insist an ongoing investigation will clarify what happened.—
Gabe Whisnant,
MSNBC Newsweek,
23 Sep. 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
Verb
-
To mulch leaves, use a lawn mower or leaf shredder to cut up your leaves into small pieces and then pile them up around your plants.—
Maia Pandey,
jsonline.com,
25 Sep. 2025
-
Investigators allegedly recovered evidence from Louisma's car, including a pocketknife with blood stains on it, machetes, a rope, a roll of duct tape, pink HeyDude shoes, and a cut up pink shirt with duct tape wrapped around it, CBS2 Iowa reports.—
KC Baker,
PEOPLE,
24 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Hilaria Baldwin and Gleb Savchenko showed off their Cha Cha skills loud and proud tonight!—
Amanda Castro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Sep. 2025
-
In 2017, the 11 story hotel also showed off a $16 million-plus makeover of its grand lobby, suites and guest rooms.—
Eric Adler,
Kansas City Star,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
When McVie stepped away from the band in 1998, the remaining members, Nicks, Fleetwood, John McVie, and Buckingham, carried on as a quartet.—
Jodi Guglielmi,
Rolling Stone,
20 Sep. 2025
-
That method has carried on unchanged through the decades.—
Melinda Salchert,
Southern Living,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
As if a 22-year-old with a trans girlfriend never rebelled against their family.—
Brendan Cole,
MSNBC Newsweek,
20 Sep. 2025
-
Redford rebelled against his father’s cautiousness and indeed against all expectations, even after the family moved to the more upscale Van Nuys.—
Stephen Galloway,
HollywoodReporter,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Tiny reveled about her husband on her own Instagram.—
Mya Abraham,
VIBE.com,
3 Sep. 2019
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.
Cite this Entry
“Acted up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/acted%20up. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share