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acted out

verb

past tense of act out
as in ran riot
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 out Whether defendant Tyler Robinson acted out of political animus could be key for prosecutors seeking the death penalty — or for his attorneys in taking that punishment off the table. — ABC News, 19 Aug. 2026 Whether defendant Tyler Robinson acted out of political animus could be key for prosecutors seeking the death penalty - or for his attorneys in taking that punishment off the table. — CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026 Pious femininity was being acted out with costumes, makeup, and abundant use of amen. — Robin Givhan, Vanity Fair, 19 Aug. 2026 Perhaps the threat wasn’t quite so dire, or its parameters were not well-enough defined, and the Secret Service acted out of a superabundance of caution. — Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, 12 Aug. 2026 During one scene, Einbinder — dressed in a replica of a black dress Gyllenhaal wore in the original film — acted out an explicit orgasm as described in the script, breaking character in the middle of the scene to double over laughing. — Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 29 July 2026 In the video, Allie dramatically acted out both sides of the conversation, capturing the feeling of trying to extract a straightforward answer from her mom. — Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 3 June 2026 This is one of the earliest indicators of emotional intelligence because feelings with names become feelings that can be processed instead of acted out. — Reem Raouda, CNBC, 31 May 2026 Our workshop acted out parts of Shange’s text on the first day of a spring semester class in 2010. — Literary Hub, 29 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for acted out
  1. disobeyed
  2. acted up
  3. carried on
  4. rebelled
Verb
  • Jeanie Buss also wants proof that Joey and Janie Buss disobeyed the 2017 court order, along with an order requiring them to show cause of why they should not be held in contempt of court.
    — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Once upon a time, but not so long ago, there was a woman who disobeyed her father by loving another man.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of disobeyed
Verb
  • 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
Definition of acted up
Verb
  • Lizárraga has carried on the legacy of his father, who passed away just as the band was arriving in Europe for the first time three decades ago.
    — Tere Aguilera, Billboard, 17 Sep. 2026
  • The relationships off the field have carried on onto the field and therefore more time is being invested around each other, with each other.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of carried on
Verb
  • Recent developments have made new an old idea that emerged among nineteenth-century intellectuals in tsarist Russia who rebelled against the elite fixation with the West.
    — Foreign Affairs, Foreign Affairs, 18 Aug. 2026
  • That year, Indian soldiers serving the British East India Company rebelled against the British commanding officers, killing many of them and sparking an uprising that spread rapidly across much of northern India.
    — Aishwarya Lakshmi, The Conversation, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of rebelled

Browse Nearby Words

acted
acted out
acted (toward)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Acted out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/acted%20out. Accessed 23 Sep. 2026.

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