1
as in acting 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 cutting 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 acting up
Likewise, when the young men started acting up, Josephine Holt took a keen interest in her newspaper.
—
Literary Hub, 21 Jan. 2026
If your trackpad is acting up, keyboard shortcuts can keep you productive without fighting the cursor.
—Ken Colburn, AZCentral.com, 19 Jan. 2026
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
Sturm said his back started acting up after the team’s first practice.
—Michael Russo, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
Mature parents do not slap their children across the face for acting up.
—Jeanne Phillips, Mercury News, 25 Sep. 2025
Then the engine started acting up, which would have cost up to $10,000 to fix.
—Shannon Pettypiece, NBC news, 22 Sep. 2025
Johnson, who struggles with a neuroma, swears by her Oofos mules to keep it from acting up.
—Jennifer Heimlich, SELF, 29 Aug. 2025
Literary Hub, 21 Jan. 2026
If your trackpad is acting up, keyboard shortcuts can keep you productive without fighting the cursor.
—Ken Colburn, AZCentral.com, 19 Jan. 2026
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
Sturm said his back started acting up after the team’s first practice.
—Michael Russo, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
Mature parents do not slap their children across the face for acting up.
—Jeanne Phillips, Mercury News, 25 Sep. 2025
Then the engine started acting up, which would have cost up to $10,000 to fix.
—Shannon Pettypiece, NBC news, 22 Sep. 2025
Johnson, who struggles with a neuroma, swears by her Oofos mules to keep it from acting up.
—Jennifer Heimlich, SELF, 29 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for acting up
Verb
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Emotional humans acting out conflicts will never be able to operate a society that values life, liberty and the pursuit of universal happiness.—
Roger Van Zanen,
The Orlando Sentinel,
17 Feb. 2026
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There are also stud shooters for kids who want to get hands-on with acting out an epic battle.—
Kim Snaith,
Space.com,
16 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Meanwhile, as all of this is happening, Meredith is cutting up with the other ladies at the spa, without a care in the world.—
Tom Smyth,
Vulture,
31 Dec. 2025
-
Ford is planning on cutting up to 1,000 roles in electric-vehicle production in Germany.—
Hugh Cameron,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The remainder of the trailer flicks at these while carrying on with her suggestion that Erika is up to no good.—
Kevin Dolak,
HollywoodReporter,
25 Feb. 2026
-
What’s it like seeing the new class of artists from your home state carrying on the legacy?—
Preezy Brown,
Rolling Stone,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Bevel was horsing around with the Reverend James Orange and Andy Young in the courtyard under King's balcony, according to Orange.—
Gail Sheehy,
Vanity Fair,
20 Feb. 2026
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In April 2020, Iglesias shared a video of him horsing around with Lucy and Nicholas as the pair attempted to climb on his back for a ride.—
Andrea Wurzburger,
PEOPLE,
19 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
What is the penalty for disobeying a traffic signal?—
Emery Glover,
Des Moines Register,
16 Feb. 2026
-
The country's Supreme Court of Justice removed him from office in 2017 and sentenced him to prison for disobeying a court order to remove barricades during protests against the government of then-President Nicolás Maduro.—
Patricia Gallagher Newberry,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
31 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Pepper, just one week old at the time, was still developing her software and learning to control her movements, but that did not stop her from showing off some dance moves.—
Verónica Egui Brito,
Miami Herald,
20 Feb. 2026
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Beyoncé sent the internet in a frenzy after showing off her long natural hair and her own wash day routine using Cécred hair products.—
Caché McClay,
USA Today,
20 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The transition was rough for Ansari, who wasn’t fluent in English and often got in trouble for fooling around in school.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Feb. 2026
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Gisin hopes that by fooling around with measurements of these more exotic states, physicists will come to better understand the role of measurement in general.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
8 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Acting up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/acting%20up. Accessed 28 Feb. 2026.
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