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
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
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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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Most Popular Notorious murderer Richard Crafts, who used a chain saw to cut up his wife’s body and a wood chipper to dispose of it, is out of prison and living in a halfway house, a state Department of Correction spokeswoman said Friday.—
Edmund H. Mahony,
Hartford Courant,
27 Mar. 2026
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When the singing was done Ma Binney brought me back to her tent and cut up a tomato, put it between two slices of bread, and served it to me on a china plate taken from a wooden chest next to her bed-roll.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The Lancers showed off outstanding pitching, starting with Gary Morse striking out 16 in their opener.—
Eric Sondheimer,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Mar. 2026
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UConn’s Chris Freeman showed off an NFL-caliber leg, kicking a 65-yard field goal.—
Dom Amore,
Hartford Courant,
29 Mar. 2026
Verb
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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
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In the internal report, an ICE agent wrote that Martinez appeared intoxicated or impaired and disobeyed verbal instructions to stop and exit his vehicle.—
Bayliss Wagner,
San Antonio Express-News,
22 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The system was carried on a Great Northern train operated by Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR).—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
27 Mar. 2026
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Leo has strongly carried on Francis’ legacy of ecological stewardship, and the environment is expected to be a topic of discussion.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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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
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The Laughing Storm rebelled against the crown, but the short rebellion came to an end after Dunk and Lyonel engaged in single combat with Dunk emerging victorious.—
James Grebey,
Vulture,
23 Feb. 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 1 Apr. 2026.
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