as in raising hell
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
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Recent Examples of acting out
Family described Wilks as an only son who was acting out of his character, which is normally soft-spoken and well-mannered.
—
David Clarey, jsonline.com, 10 Oct. 2025
Some cases even involve disgruntled family members acting out of greed.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 8 Oct. 2025
Many adults can remember acting out scenes as doctor and patient, or using sticks and leaves as imaginary currency.
—Ekaterina Muravevskaia, The Conversation, 2 Oct. 2025
Then Bostwick hits the road through November for screenings around the country with live shadow casts of performers acting out the movie in front of the screen.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 25 Sep. 2025
An animal physiotherapist and acupuncturist, Megan Taylor, posted on her Instagram @tayloredvetphysio the question of whether owners have noticed their senior dogs dreaming more intensely or acting out compared to younger canines.
—Liz O'Connell, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Sep. 2025
His brittle mum Heather (a heartbreaking and frustrating Shirley Henderson) is barely holding things together as is, and then John starts, well, acting out?
—Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 7 Sep. 2025
Despite their language barrier, Costner did his best to talk to the tribe about buffalo, acting out how the animal would behave.
—Angel Saunders, People.com, 3 Sep. 2025
So Kiritsis, while his plan is undeniably wacked, is still someone who’s been backed into a corner and is acting out of a fury that has justifiably boiled over.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 2 Sep. 2025
David Clarey, jsonline.com, 10 Oct. 2025
Some cases even involve disgruntled family members acting out of greed.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 8 Oct. 2025
Many adults can remember acting out scenes as doctor and patient, or using sticks and leaves as imaginary currency.
—Ekaterina Muravevskaia, The Conversation, 2 Oct. 2025
Then Bostwick hits the road through November for screenings around the country with live shadow casts of performers acting out the movie in front of the screen.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 25 Sep. 2025
An animal physiotherapist and acupuncturist, Megan Taylor, posted on her Instagram @tayloredvetphysio the question of whether owners have noticed their senior dogs dreaming more intensely or acting out compared to younger canines.
—Liz O'Connell, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Sep. 2025
His brittle mum Heather (a heartbreaking and frustrating Shirley Henderson) is barely holding things together as is, and then John starts, well, acting out?
—Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 7 Sep. 2025
Despite their language barrier, Costner did his best to talk to the tribe about buffalo, acting out how the animal would behave.
—Angel Saunders, People.com, 3 Sep. 2025
So Kiritsis, while his plan is undeniably wacked, is still someone who’s been backed into a corner and is acting out of a fury that has justifiably boiled over.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 2 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for acting out
Verb
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Its general sensibility seems more Superstore than The Office, down to the interstitial montages of customers acting up in the perpetually overcrowded waiting room.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Oct. 2025
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Sturm said his back started acting up after the team’s first practice.—
Michael Russo,
New York Times,
1 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The City of Portland’s official account also weighed in, posting that while national media painted a grim picture, daily life was carrying on as usual.—
Billal Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 Sep. 2025
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Big thanks to Betty Lin-Fisher and Baily Schulz for carrying on in our absence.—
Daniel de Visé,
USA Today,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
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In Missouri, disobeying traffic lights is considered a moving violation.—
Eleanor Nash,
Kansas City Star,
15 Oct. 2025
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The next day, Alex begs Mia to put her on TMS to talk about the deep fake, but Mia won’t, because that would be directly disobeying Stella and Celine’s order for Alex to keep quiet.—
Kimberly Roots,
TVLine,
24 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Acting out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/acting%20out. Accessed 19 Oct. 2025.
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