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
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
If an agent misbehaves or is compromised, identity becomes the kill switch.
—Kevin Bocek, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for misbehave
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
If an agent misbehaves or is compromised, identity becomes the kill switch.
—Kevin Bocek, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for misbehave
Recent Examples of Synonyms for misbehave
Verb
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Regulators also reviewed incidents in which the vehicles appeared to disobey traffic control devices.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
4 Feb. 2026
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The country's Supreme Court of Justice removed him from office in 2017 and sentenced him to prison for disobeying a court order to remove barricades during protests against the government of then-President Nicolás Maduro.—
Patricia Gallagher Newberry,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
31 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The end of the prohibition came earlier than originally planned as a group of moderate Republicans rebelled against leadership in September, winning a concession to shorten the length of the pause by two months.—
Jared Gans,
The Hill,
22 Jan. 2026
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Certainly heroic for repeatedly rebelling against a murderous regime armed to the teeth.—
Melik Kaylan,
Forbes.com,
22 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Misbehave.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/misbehave. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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