1
as in to act 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 to 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 act up
But in 1954, Brando was at the height of his talents, bringing American acting up to and past to the British standard for the first time, with a realism achieved through that delicate balancing of gender qualities that pretty much no one before or after mastered in the same way.
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Allen Farmelo, Robb Report, 23 July 2024
Babies remain the last vestige of scoundrels in sequel terms, so naturally the movie introduces a son to Gru (voiced as usual by Steve Carell) and Lucy (Kristen Wiig) who, semi-amusingly, can’t stand his dad, screaming or acting up in some other way every time Gru picks him up.
—Brian Lowry, CNN, 2 July 2024
Nobody's that good an actor to keep this act up for 50 years.
—Daniela Avila, Peoplemag, 27 June 2024
The parents of children who act up in the Jersey Shore town of Margate City will be fined this summer for their badly behaved kids.
—Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 13 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for act up 
Allen Farmelo, Robb Report, 23 July 2024
Babies remain the last vestige of scoundrels in sequel terms, so naturally the movie introduces a son to Gru (voiced as usual by Steve Carell) and Lucy (Kristen Wiig) who, semi-amusingly, can’t stand his dad, screaming or acting up in some other way every time Gru picks him up.
—Brian Lowry, CNN, 2 July 2024
Nobody's that good an actor to keep this act up for 50 years.
—Daniela Avila, Peoplemag, 27 June 2024
The parents of children who act up in the Jersey Shore town of Margate City will be fined this summer for their badly behaved kids.
—Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 13 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for act up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for act up
Verb
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Signing free-agent third baseman Alex Bregman would change the narrative, but require them to act out of character and block a younger player, Jace Jung.Ken Rosenthal, The Athletic, 5 Jan. 2025
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Those concerns faded upon watching the murderer act out in court.Ishani Desai, Sacramento Bee, 2 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Contra Costa County Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority has asked its customers to cut up their trees and place them in the organics cart for a month-long effort to clean up Christmas trees.Chase Hunter, The Mercury News, 3 Jan. 2025
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At Dos Reales the process begins the night before when the pork and other ingredients are cut up and refrigerated overnight.Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 2 Jan. 2025
Verb
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As the crowd clapped and music blared, Sabalenka overcame her embarrassment and showed off her dance moves before attempting to take a picture with her Polaroid camera, only to realise the film had run out.Issy Ronald, CNN, 12 Jan. 2025
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The company is also showing off its smallest UST projector at CES 2025.Paul Ridden, New Atlas, 12 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Among racing’s many problems is that there are no dedicated air shipping companies that make moving horses around the country easy.John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, 25 Dec. 2024
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Video went viral just days before the beginning of the 2024 Paris Olympics, where Dujardin was seen repeatedly whipping a horse around its legs.Scott Thompson, Fox News, 5 Dec. 2024
Verb
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Hutchison is nominally a private company in Hong Kong, but in the Communist Party's system, no entity in the People's Republic can ignore or disobey an order from the ruling organization.Kevin Lynn, Newsweek, 6 Jan. 2025
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Rosenblatt said in a statement Monday that King would plead guilty to five of those charges, including desertion, three counts of disobeying an officer, and assault on a noncommissioned officer.Drake Bentley, Journal Sentinel, 1 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Based on that data training, modern-era AI does a relatively remarkable job of mimicking how humans interact and can carry on conversations.Lance Eliot, Forbes, 13 Jan. 2025
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Advertisement Basketball and being a Bulldog are in the blood for Lewis, whose mom Melissa played at Buena and now works in the College and Career Center at her alma mater, getting to watch her daughter carry on the program’s winning tradition.Steve Galluzzo, Los Angeles Times, 12 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Some kids, growing up, want to rebel and follow a different path from their parents.Essence, Essence, 9 Jan. 2025
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Meanwhile, break-off factions also started to rebel, the main one being the Banished, led by a Jiralhanae stalker named Atriox.Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 29 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near act up
Cite this Entry
“Act up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/act%20up. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
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