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
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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
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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
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Like other states around the country, Tennessee was closing its public psychiatric hospitals, and mentally ill people who acted out were simply being jailed.—
James Verini,
New Yorker,
2 Mar. 2026
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Administration officials have argued Ross acted out of self-defense, alleging Good was impeding federal law enforcement.—
Amie Parnes,
The Hill,
18 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Scalping the lawn can assist doveweed's spread by cutting up pieces that root all over the lawn.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
11 Apr. 2026
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In the photo, Hat Rack is seen nestled within the weblike Sculpture for Traveling (1918), a net of rubber shower caps cut up and glued together that Duchamp took on a trip to Buenos Aires.—
Howard Halle,
ARTnews.com,
10 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The campaign marked the first time that Davidson showed off his body since embarking on his $200,000 ink-removal journey in 2020.—
Catherine Santino,
PEOPLE,
17 Apr. 2026
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At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this year, Chinese laser company Appotronics showed off its rival optical engines — including one for color display.—
Evelyn Cheng,
CNBC,
13 Apr. 2026
Verb
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However, all of the city’s fire stations seemingly disobeyed the mayor by lowering their flags.—
R. Christian Smith,
Chicago Tribune,
14 Apr. 2026
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In one story, the king, Hiranyakashipu, ordered everyone in his kingdom to worship him and was irked when his own son Prahlad, a devotee of Lord Vishnu, disobeyed his command.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
3 Mar. 2026
Verb
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And so Lobanov and Stetsenko carried on with their plans, exchanging vows at the Palace of Culture and then heading to a nearby café with their guests to celebrate.—
Erin Clack,
PEOPLE,
20 Apr. 2026
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The tradition has carried on, however, as an unsanctioned event on the beach for decades, and has primarily been marketed to HBCU students in the southeast.—
Irene Wright,
USA Today,
17 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The central authority of the emperor became tenuous, and non-Muslim communities such as the Sikhs and Rajputs rebelled against Aurangzeb’s policies.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
14 Apr. 2026
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During the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Kurds were marginalized and repressed and sometimes rebelled.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
4 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Not too long ago, artificial intelligence was more or less a science project in which data scientists and developers fooled around with one-off small or test projects.—
Joe McKendrick,
Forbes.com,
26 Jan. 2026
Verb
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While hundreds reveled at Thursday night’s all-out bash for The Pierre hotel’s 95th anniversary, some of the building’s tenants in the floors above haven’t been feeling quite as celebratory.—
Rosemary Feitelberg,
Footwear News,
21 Nov. 2025
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In the party scene, though, there would be plenty of swooping camera movements as the guests revelled.—
Margaret Talbot,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Acted up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/acted%20up. Accessed 23 Apr. 2026.
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