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
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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
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Recent Examples of Synonyms for acted up
Verb
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Eventually, the rewrite and actors workshop rehearsal combined — a two-week period in which Jones, McCormick, Wilde, Rogen, Cruz, and Norton acted out, improvised scenes, and, most importantly, talked about characters.
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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.
Verb
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Its asymmetrical riff on the classic bucket hat takes the usual cut up a notch.
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The new non-stop flights will cut up to four hours off travel time compared to current one-stop services.
Verb
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However, all of the city’s fire stations seemingly disobeyed the mayor by lowering their flags.
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The group says Ensign misled courts, disobeyed court orders and failed to intervene when lawyers under his supervision engaged in misconduct.
Verb
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The actress showed off micro bangs and a chin-grazing chop for her role as a manager.
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In its first international friendly since March, the US showed off slick offense in a 3-2 win over Senegal in Charlotte, North Carolina, on May 31.
Verb
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Bosch has carried on regardless, and still views the UK as an attractive place to do business.
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In the medieval era, blood feuds carried on for generations; likewise, today’s wars are often rooted in centuries of pain.
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.
Verb
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Ever since the Haitian revolutionaries first rebelled against the French in 1791, the proslavery and imperialist powers of Europe and the Americas had a special interest in ensuring that Haiti failed.
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Jane rebelled against Marge’s efforts to manage her choices, especially on whom to date.
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.
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In the party scene, though, there would be plenty of swooping camera movements as the guests revelled.
Cite this Entry
“Acted up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/acted%20up. Accessed 26 Jun. 2026.
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