as in to disobey
to behave badly
scolded the children for misbehaving and sent them to bed early
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Recent Examples of misbehave
When your child misbehaves, rewards might be the last thing on your mind.
—
Amy Morin, Parents, 1 Apr. 2026
Recommended reading: In our new special issue, a Wall Street legend gets a radical makeover, a tale of crypto iniquity, misbehaving poultry royalty, and more.
Read the stories.
—Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Mar. 2026
This can lead to stress, perfectionist tendencies, and feeling not good enough when the other sibs inevitably misbehave.
—Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 3 Oct. 2025
Lawrence is hoping fans of both teams treat it as a special sporting event and do not misbehave.
—Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 3 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for misbehave
Amy Morin, Parents, 1 Apr. 2026
Recommended reading: In our new special issue, a Wall Street legend gets a radical makeover, a tale of crypto iniquity, misbehaving poultry royalty, and more.
Read the stories.
—Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Mar. 2026
This can lead to stress, perfectionist tendencies, and feeling not good enough when the other sibs inevitably misbehave.
—Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 3 Oct. 2025
Lawrence is hoping fans of both teams treat it as a special sporting event and do not misbehave.
—Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 3 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for misbehave
Recent Examples of Synonyms for misbehave
Verb
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However, all of the city’s fire stations seemingly disobeyed the mayor by lowering their flags.—
R. Christian Smith,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Apr. 2026
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Trump had to relent on a scheme to prosecute Fed Chair Jerome Powell for disobeying White House commands to cut interest rates.—
David Frum,
The Atlantic,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Irish nationalists had rebelled against British rule for hundreds of years, but revolution started to become more palatable to the larger public during World War I, according to Sean Farrell, a history professor at Northern Illinois University and 19th century Irish historian.—
Tess Kenny,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Apr. 2026
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More than two centuries after the 13 colonies rebelled against King George III and sent his redcoats packing, a direct descendant of that monarch will arrive Monday in Washington to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence from British rule.—
Yuliya Talmazan,
NBC news,
26 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Misbehave.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/misbehave. Accessed 8 May. 2026.
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