act out

British  

verb

1. (tr) to reproduce (an idea, former event, etc) in actions, often by mime

2. psychiatry to express unconsciously (a repressed impulse or experience) in overt behaviour

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act out Idioms  

1. Perform or portray something or someone, as in As she read to the class, the teacher had each child act out a different character in the story . [c. 1600]

2. Express unconscious feelings or impulses through one's behavior, without being aware of it. For example, She acted out her anger at her father by screaming at her husband . This meaning comes from 20th-century psychological theory and usually (but not always) refers to negative or hostile impulses and emotions. The term is sometimes used without an object to mean “misbehave” or “behave disruptively,” as in The child is acting out in class . [First half of 1900s] In both usages, out means “openly” or “publicly.”

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Example Sentences

The teenagers huddled around the table leap into action, shouting instructions and acting out the correct strategies for just one of the potential catastrophes laid out in the board game called Master of Disaster.

From Barron's

Mescal and the players acted out 30 to 40 minutes of “Hamlet” while filming.

From Los Angeles Times

In “Twenty-Sided Tavern,” there are three core actors playing and acting out the game, one dungeon master and a sort of tavern keeper helping to keep score and track of the story.

From Los Angeles Times

Have the players been able to bat in a way that is comfortable for them, or have they been acting out of an obligation to conform?

From BBC

Doricko beamed as he watched the teens act out a surreal debate between a girl playing him and another playing Marjorie Taylor Greene.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• display
• execute
• give
• go on
• offer
• play
• present
• produce
• represent
• show
• stage