How to Use act up in a Sentence

act up

verb

• So as the leg gets stronger, sometimes the back may act up.
  — Paul Daugherty, The Enquirer, 10 Dec. 2021
• Latin act up for songwriter of the year at the 2024 awards.
  — Thania Garcia, Variety, 19 Dec. 2023
• Soon after her descent, the walls of the cave grow so wet that the Wi-Fi router begins to act up.
  — D. T. Max, The New Yorker, 21 Jan. 2024
• The biggest trophy of the night is for video of the year, which originally saw 16 acts up for the coveted belt buckle.
  — Sadie Bell, Peoplemag, 6 Apr. 2024
• After lunch, Streisand was ready to relax and needed to stretch her back, which lately has been acting up.
  — Wesley Morris, New York Times, 7 Nov. 2023
• The boys who acted up did push-ups and other calisthenics.
  — Stephen Borelli, USA TODAY, 26 May 2023
• What would cleaning their act up entail beyond the firings of Wilkinson and Golub?
  — Bill Oram, oregonlive, 9 Oct. 2022
• That shank was a shocker, and perhaps more concerning was Woods saying his back was acting up int the final hour, leading to the shank.
  — Doug Ferguson, USA TODAY, 16 Feb. 2024
• Advertisement If your computer is acting up, that’s a big sign that things are not right.
  — Jim Rossman, Dallas News, 30 July 2023
• Like most parts of your body, sometimes your temporomandibular joints can act up, resulting in a TMJ disorder.
  — Korin Miller, SELF, 20 Oct. 2020
• The instrument’s dust cover has been acting up since January 6.
  — Amanda Kooser, Forbes, 14 Feb. 2024
• If your coffee maker is broken or acting up, running a 50/50 mix of water and vinegar through the machine can clean it and remove minerals that have built up over time.
  — Sean McDonnell, cleveland, 28 Feb. 2023
• Even these little figures of speech can reflect how, in frustrating situations, you might be tempted to blame your nerves for acting up—or stress out about how to calm them down.
  — Maggie O'Neill, SELF, 31 Mar. 2023
• Sahl was known to devour numerous newspapers and magazines every day to keep his topical act up-to-date.
  — Dennis McLellan, Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2021
• Hazel Wilkins, 68, a resident, told the firefighters the air conditioning had been acting up for a week, and had stopped working entirely a day earlier.
  — Jack Healy, New York Times, 16 July 2023
• Would the far-right Republican extremists who had held up their own party’s leadership through fifteen long ballots at the start of the year, rather than sign off on McCarthy as Speaker, once again act up?
  — Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 8 Feb. 2023
• Michael Trimble recalls acting as a human antenna when the pre-cable family TV acted up during the Oscars.
  — Roger Showley, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Mar. 2023
• The burdens borne by families like those of George Floyd, of activists who willingly speak up and act up when others won't, are far heavier than those managed by people simply searching for meaning in the national racial mess, Dyson said.
  — NBC News, 9 June 2020
• The draft bill would shift a portion of blame to parents when their children act up, forcing them to attend family education programs if their child seriously violates school rules.
  — Jay Cannon, USA TODAY, 19 Oct. 2021
• That season was sensational, particularly the first half before the ankle started acting up.
  — Susan Slusser, San Francisco Chronicle, 22 Feb. 2023
• The House of Representatives was pitching another fit, with balky Republicans acting up, must-pass legislation stalled and restless lawmakers anxiously eyeing the exits.
  — Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2023

Last Updated: 9 Jun 2024