1
as in acts 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 cuts 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
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Recent Examples of acts up
The kid acts up, the dad disciplines him and mom just sends a sorry text.
—
Hannah Sacks, PEOPLE, 22 Sep. 2025
Hannah Sacks, PEOPLE, 22 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for acts up
Verb
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Blanc specifically acts out moments from John Dickson Carr's The Hollow Man to illustrate the impossibility of the crime.—
Esther Zuckerman,
Time,
8 Sep. 2025
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Traditional methods might overlook the quiet student who won’t ask for help or the struggling reader who acts out to hide their difficulty grasping the words.—
Haozhen Yang,
Forbes.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Davante Adams shows off some Taco Bell goodies.—
Toria Sheffield,
PEOPLE,
9 Sep. 2025
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Next to the arm, an ankle — where Umansky is tagged — shows off a tattoo with four thin black lines.—
Emy LaCroix,
People.com,
8 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Acts up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/acts%20up. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
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