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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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 acting out
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
People went to see it again and again, and started dressing up in costumes and acting out the lines in front of the big screen, a practice that became known as shadow casting.
—ArsTechnica, 16 Aug. 2025
Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick said, last week, players on the bus to practice at Halas Hall were acting out a football trivia game show and linebacker Jordyn Brooks was playing the host.
—David Furones, Sun Sentinel, 12 Aug. 2025
His acting out was written up multiple times, but there was no clear follow-up documented to address his needs and help him.
—Ismael Estrada, ABC News, 12 Aug. 2025
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
People went to see it again and again, and started dressing up in costumes and acting out the lines in front of the big screen, a practice that became known as shadow casting.
—ArsTechnica, 16 Aug. 2025
Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick said, last week, players on the bus to practice at Halas Hall were acting out a football trivia game show and linebacker Jordyn Brooks was playing the host.
—David Furones, Sun Sentinel, 12 Aug. 2025
His acting out was written up multiple times, but there was no clear follow-up documented to address his needs and help him.
—Ismael Estrada, ABC News, 12 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for acting out
Verb
-
Johnson, who struggles with a neuroma, swears by her Oofos mules to keep it from acting up.—
Jennifer Heimlich,
SELF,
29 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Big thanks to Betty Lin-Fisher and Baily Schulz for carrying on in our absence.—
Daniel de Visé,
USA Today,
16 Sep. 2025
-
All that carrying on caused the rusty metal trap to cut further into his leg, which caused a terrible infection.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
PEOPLE,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
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
-
Fischer faces charges of first-degree reckless endangerment, interfering with an officer, reckless driving, disobeying traffic control signals, failure to drive in the proper lane, disobeying the signal of an officer, failure to display plates and engaging police in a pursuit.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
18 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Acting out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/acting%20out. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share