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
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Recent Examples of acted up
And of course, Peterson not playing would have made some wonder if the McDonald’s All-American’s hamstring had acted up again.
—
Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 7 Dec. 2025
Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 7 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for acted up
Verb
-
Ordained to the Catholic priesthood in June, Jimenez was watching as parishioners acted out the Nativity scene during a posada, a Latin American tradition that reenacts Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem in search of shelter.—
Alex Riggins,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
25 Dec. 2025
-
Others abused alcohol and drugs, were separated and divorced, or acted out violently.—
Arianna Huffington,
Fortune,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
ConocoPhillips announced plans to cut up to 25% of its global staff.—
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld,
Time,
5 Jan. 2026
-
Meanwhile, as all of this is happening, Meredith is cutting up with the other ladies at the spa, without a care in the world.—
Tom Smyth,
Vulture,
31 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
The model showed off her husband's new ink via Instagram Stories.—
Brendan Le,
PEOPLE,
9 Jan. 2026
-
While Hawke, who played Manson family member Linda Kasabian/’Flowerchild’, did not end up barefoot in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, her co-star Margaret Qualley famously showed off her lower extremities in the film.—
Glenn Garner,
Deadline,
5 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Hours after the shooting, Noem defended the ICE officer who shot Good, saying the woman had blocked federal officers with her SUV and disobeyed orders to get out of her vehicle.—
Juliana Kim,
NPR,
9 Jan. 2026
-
One aviation expert argued that IndiGo not only disobeyed the regulations, but also increased its domestic flights without increasing crew and pilots.—
semafor.com,
semafor.com,
8 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
Some of the injured were carried on stretchers to waiting cars.—
NPR,
NPR,
7 Nov. 2025
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His legacy and laughter will be carried on through his family.—
Raechal Shewfelt,
Entertainment Weekly,
28 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
In Spanish Santo Domingo, the first slave society in the Americas, Africans on a sugar plantation owned by Christopher Columbus’s son rebelled on Christmas Day 1521.—
Laurent Dubois,
The Atlantic,
6 Jan. 2026
-
The House is set to vote on a bill to extend the subsidies as-is for three years after four Republicans rebelled against GOP leaders and joined a Democratic effort to force the measure to the floor.—
Emily Brooks,
The Hill,
4 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
In the party scene, though, there would be plenty of swooping camera movements as the guests revelled.—
Margaret Talbot,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
-
Tiny reveled about her husband on her own Instagram.—
Mya Abraham,
VIBE.com,
3 Sep. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Acted up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/acted%20up. Accessed 11 Jan. 2026.
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