act
noun
anything done, being done, or to be done; deed; performance.
had been acting
-
past perfect progressiveof act.past perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
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.
The U.S. economy has strong underlying growth, but worries about large fiscal deficits had been acting as a headwind for the dollar, especially given its role as the world’s reserve currency, he noted.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 18, 2026
Tang Ngok-kwan, a former Alliance committee member, said on Monday he believed that the group had been acting within the law.
From Barron's ● May 18, 2026
But he became the subject of a Sheriff’s Department investigation in 2015 when a student told detectives Kaleel had been acting inappropriately toward him for years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2025
After Machado won, some Polymarket users and outside observers questioned whether the mystery trader had been acting on nonpublic information.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025
Which was strange, because just minutes earlier he had been acting like we were all murderers for not crying our eyes out.
From "Confessions of a Murder Suspect" by James Patterson
