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
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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
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Recent Examples of Synonyms for acted up
Verb
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Eventually, the rewrite and actors workshop rehearsal combined — a two-week period in which Jones, McCormick, Wilde, Rogen, Cruz, and Norton acted out, improvised scenes, and, most importantly, talked about characters.
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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.
Verb
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Everything is cut up and put together through chance operations into what Cage called a Musicircus.
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During the matchup, Jeter dove into the stands in the top of the 12th inning to catch a foul ball, emerging from the crowd cut up and bruised.
Verb
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However, all of the city’s fire stations seemingly disobeyed the mayor by lowering their flags.
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The group says Ensign misled courts, disobeyed court orders and failed to intervene when lawyers under his supervision engaged in misconduct.
Verb
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The actress showed off micro bangs and a chin-grazing chop for her role as a manager.
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In its first international friendly since March, the US showed off slick offense in a 3-2 win over Senegal in Charlotte, North Carolina, on May 31.
Verb
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New York, however, is nothing if not resilient, and as disruptive as Swift and Kelce’s wedding could have been, in reality the neighborhood carried on with modest enthusiasm tempered with indifference.
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Do not use to cover a ceiling Do not carry the flag flat — and things should not be carried on it.
Verb
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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.
Verb
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Not be outdone, a couple of New Jersey towns even 'rebelled' against data centers despite there being no plan to actually build them!
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Ever since the Haitian revolutionaries first rebelled against the French in 1791, the proslavery and imperialist powers of Europe and the Americas had a special interest in ensuring that Haiti failed.
Verb
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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.
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In the party scene, though, there would be plenty of swooping camera movements as the guests revelled.
Cite this Entry
“Acted up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/acted%20up. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.
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