acted up

verb

past tense of act up
1
as in acted 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 cut 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

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 acted up And of course, Peterson not playing would have made some wonder if the McDonald’s All-American’s hamstring had acted up again. — Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 7 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for acted up
  1. acted out
  2. cut up
  3. disobeyed
  4. showed off
  5. carried on
  6. fooled around
  7. rebelled
  8. reveled
Verb
  • During one scene, Einbinder — dressed in a replica of a black dress Gyllenhaal wore in the original film — acted out an explicit orgasm as described in the script, breaking character in the middle of the scene to double over laughing.
    — Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 29 July 2026
  • In the video, Allie dramatically acted out both sides of the conversation, capturing the feeling of trying to extract a straightforward answer from her mom.
    — Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 3 June 2026
Definition of acted out
Verb
  • One of the women was cut up and wearing a bathing suit while Kovalcik was shirtless.
    — Robert McGreevy, FOXNews.com, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Sporting Kansas City joined the vanquished Galaxy and Real Salt Lake on Saturday as LAFC cut up the last-place team in the Western Conference, 4-0.
    — Josh Gross, Daily News, 26 July 2026
Definition of cut up
Verb
  • Once upon a time, but not so long ago, there was a woman who disobeyed her father by loving another man.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Ulysses expresses sorrowful regret for having disobeyed Zeus’ Law – essentially the Golden Rule – in sacking Troy.
    — Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor, 16 July 2026
Definition of disobeyed
Verb
  • And Field was there on Wednesday evening to cheer on her friend as Walker toasted Anonymous Content’s Emmy nominees this year and showed off his famous new digs at a historic Los Angeles address.
    — Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 15 Aug. 2026
  • The designer showed off a cheeky chartreuse green bikini in a completely sheer cover-up that was held together with string.
    — Lara Walsh, InStyle, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of showed off
Verb
  • But his wife, Ruth, and his 10 children carried on his mission, helping to drill, blast, and push rock off the mountain.
    — John Lauritsen, CBS News, 13 Aug. 2026
  • The band carried on with Blackmore for a few more days, and parted ways with him after a November 17 show in Helsinki, Finland.
    — Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of carried on
Verb
  • Not too long ago, artificial intelligence was more or less a science project in which data scientists and developers fooled around with one-off small or test projects.
    — Joe McKendrick, Forbes.com, 26 Jan. 2026
Definition of fooled around
Verb
  • Recent developments have made new an old idea that emerged among nineteenth-century intellectuals in tsarist Russia who rebelled against the elite fixation with the West.
    — Foreign Affairs, Foreign Affairs, 18 Aug. 2026
  • The Chumash rebelled in 1824, the latest in a chain of Native Californian revolts against the friars.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 29 July 2026
Definition of rebelled
Verb
  • Walker wore his Cardinals hat backward, chewed a big wad of bubble gum and reveled afterward in flashing his imitation Liberty Bell bling, the champions chain presented by Ryan Howard.
    — Dan Gelston, Chicago Tribune, 17 July 2026
  • While hundreds reveled at Thursday night’s all-out bash for The Pierre hotel’s 95th anniversary, some of the building’s tenants in the floors above haven’t been feeling quite as celebratory.
    — Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 21 Nov. 2025
Definition of reveled

Browse Nearby Words

acted (toward)
acted up
acting
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Acted up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/acted%20up. Accessed 21 Aug. 2026.

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