act up
Britishverb
-
Misbehave. For example, With an inexperienced rider, this horse always acts up . [c. 1900]
-
Malfunction, as in I'm not sure what's wrong with my car, but the transmission is acting up . In both usages up means “abnormally.”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“With ‘Dead Man Walking,’ Sean was the first professional I saw act up close, the person I think I learned the most about acting from.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 20, 2023
When I was dating the woman who became my wife, her 13-year-old would act up.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 4, 2023
The more serious the occasion, the more he'll act up.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2022
Keep this smoke-and-mirrors act up, Martin St. Louis’ over-performing bunch can kiss Connor Bedard goodbye.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 21, 2022
The reason I know this is because Mr. Piper likes to write names on the board when kids act up, which is totally juvenile, but sometimes teachers treat us like we’re seven years old.
From "Hello, Universe" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
