enact
Americanverb (used with object)
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enacts,
present (3rd person singular)
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enacted,
past participle, past
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enacting
present participle
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to make into an act or statute.
Congress has enacted a new tax law.
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to represent on or as on the stage; act the part of.
to enact Hamlet.
verb
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to make into an act or statute
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to establish by law; ordain or decree
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to represent or perform in or as if in a play; to act out
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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enactmentnoun
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enactornoun
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preenactverb (used with object)
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reenactverb (used with object)
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enactableadjective
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enactiveadjective
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unenactedadjective
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well-enactedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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enactsimple
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enactssimple
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have enactedperfect
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has enactedperfect
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am enactingprogressive
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are enactingprogressive
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is enactingprogressive
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have been enactingperfect progressive
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has been enactingperfect progressive
Past
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enactedsimple
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had enactedperfect
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was enactingprogressive
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were enactingprogressive
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had been enactingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of enact
First recorded in 1375–1425, enact is from the late Middle English word enacten. See en- 1, act
Explanation
You often hear that Congress is going to enact a new statute, which means that they will make it into a law. But enact also means to perform, like in a play. (Makes you wonder if the lawmakers are actors!) Inside the word enact is that little word act, meaning “to do.” That makes sense, because when you enact something, you make it happen. And of course, we know that to act also means to perform, and so enact means “to act out,” like on stage. Now that the new rules have been enacted, you'll have to stop wearing your gorilla suit to work. Even after Labor Day.
Vocabulary lists containing enact
The Mayflower Compact (1620)
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Vocabulary from history writings about the Triangle Factory Fire
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Just Do It: Act
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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.
See Examples For:
A medical student pressed him on how one senator could actually enact the sweeping things he was promising.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
Adam Raine’s mom, Maria, said in the news conference that the new law will help save lives and hopes that other states will enact similar legislation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026
But it faced criticism within its own ranks for being slow to enact it.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
Accreditation determines whether other states will accept a state’s solvency examinations and, in practice, places intense pressure on legislatures to enact specified model laws.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
We had to maintain a strict rota to determine whose turn it was to play the Federals, as no one wanted to enact their part.
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
But sometimes the law Congress enacts explicitly directs the judiciary to defer to the views of federal agencies who have studied a difficult problem and made evidence-based recommendations.
From Slate ● Oct. 6, 2026
The greater risk is that Washington, preparing for the wrong labor-market shock, enacts policies that make it more difficult to adapt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
But then he enacts the scene in which Iago subtly poisons Othello’s mind into believing that his wife is having an affair with a handsome lieutenant.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 17, 2026
The true danger lies not only in what the state enacts, but in what the public comes to accept as normal, even necessary.
From Salon ● Apr. 16, 2025
In a separate act, the Continental Congress enacts the Northwest Ordinance, which outlaws slavery in the territories north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi Rivers.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
Singapore enacted the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act in 2014, after a severe pollution episode in 2013.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
In July, she enacted a three-year pause on any new tax break given to a company for a data centres project.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
The administration has not detailed how such a $5,000 payment would be funded or enacted.
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2026
Patriotism as enacted by the creative community takes the American experiment seriously enough to question, examine, remember what we’ve forgotten and catalyze collective American dreaming.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
I know not what further scheme they would have enacted upon my already distracted frame had events not transpired which changed considerably the issue of this incarceration.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
She’s enacting the No. 1 piece of advice I give all my straight, single female pals suffering from go-nowhere serial monogamy: Date a minimum of three men.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
District Court Judge Indira Talwani, a federal judge in Massachusetts, who will decide in the coming days whether to issue a permanent ban on enacting the system for this election.
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026
In the “grand settlement” of 1701, the disillusioned Five Nations negotiated treaties with the French and English alike, enacting a policy of wary neutrality that kept them out of subsequent Anglo-French conflicts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
But the spokesperson stressed Kosovo would focus on enacting its deal with Denmark "before entering into any new agreement of a similar nature".
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
After riding Sunshine, a group of us played at Civil War games, enacting the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, skirmishing with wooden swords and firing log cannons.
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
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