misbehaving 1 of 2

adjective

as in naughty
engaging in or marked by childish misbehavior a new approach for disciplining a chronically misbehaving child

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misbehaving

2 of 2

verb

present participle of misbehave
as in disobeying
to behave badly scolded the children for misbehaving and sent them to bed early

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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 misbehaving
Adjective
Why must members of the public be disrespected by unruly, misbehaving, noisy children, who are then defended by adults who should know better? — Judith Martin, Mercury News, 1 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for misbehaving
  1. naughty
  2. disobeying
  3. mischievous
  4. rebelling
  5. bad
Adjective
  • In the special, Snoopy has wound up on Santa’s naughty list and has just 12 days to change his standing with the big man (and possibly learn a lesson or two about what the holiday season is really about).
    — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 4 Nov. 2026
  • But when Santa fails to show up at their house to back them up, Mark and Daryl are forced to go in by themselves in the hopes of rescuing Julie and Bobby before the Kringles put the entire Severson family permanently on the naughty list.
    — Todd Gilchrist, Variety, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of naughty
Verb
  • Eventually, Barton-Kennedy was court-martialed for disobeying a lawful command, pled guilty, was reduced in rank, and ordered to serve 10 months in detention.
    — Cyrus Farivar, ArsTechnica, 7 Nov. 2026
  • Smith was charged with disobeying an officer, a misdemeanor, according to Placer Superior Court records.
    — Theresa Clift, Sacbee.com, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of disobeying
Adjective
  • Bill Hader voices the titular character in the cartooned version, which revolves around the shenanigans that occur after a mischievous cat (donning a hat) arrives to cheer up two siblings who move to a new town.
    — Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 8 Nov. 2026
  • Gosselaar rose to fame in the early ‘90s for his portrayal of the mischievous protagonist of Bayside High School.
    — Kaitlin Simpson, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Nov. 2026
Definition of mischievous
Verb
  • Lloyd was always underrated — the George Harrison figure in Television, a couple of years younger than Verlaine, but constantly rebelling against his kid-brother status.
    — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 9 Nov. 2026
  • And there would have been girls rebelling against social etiquette back then, like, there would now.
    — Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of rebelling
Adjective
  • During that period, the number of women killed because of their gender rose by 44%, suggesting the problem is only getting worse.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 13 Nov. 2026
  • Read my colleague Nate Freeman’s soaring eulogy for the Cybertruck, Elon Musk’s grand experiment in bad taste.
    — Aidan McLaughlin, Vanity Fair, 13 Nov. 2026
Definition of bad

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Cite this Entry

“Misbehaving.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/misbehaving. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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