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
Stevie wasn’t misbehaving or even playing with toys to occupy herself.
—
Alyce Collins, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Dec. 2025
Several recent studies have shown that artificial-intelligence agents sometimes decide to misbehave, for instance by attempting to blackmail people who plan to replace them.
—Matthew Hutson, IEEE Spectrum, 25 Nov. 2025
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
Alyce Collins, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Dec. 2025
Several recent studies have shown that artificial-intelligence agents sometimes decide to misbehave, for instance by attempting to blackmail people who plan to replace them.
—Matthew Hutson, IEEE Spectrum, 25 Nov. 2025
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,
14 Apr. 2026
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The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office charged Nikolas Hart, 25, with six counts, including felony animal cruelty and misdemeanors related to allegations of domestic violence, witness tampering and disobeying a court order.—
Matthew Rodriguez,
CBS News,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Republicans themselves remain divided over how to proceed, with some hard-right lawmakers already rebelling against the shutdown deal.—
Nik Popli,
Time,
7 Apr. 2026
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The citizens of Iran can’t rebel without bridges and electricity.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
7 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Misbehave.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/misbehave. Accessed 18 Apr. 2026.
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