act up

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

act up (third-person singular simple present acts up, present participle acting up, simple past and past participle acted up)

1. (intransitive, idiomatic) To misbehave; to cause trouble.

   My allergies act up during hay fever season.

   Children may act up in class in an effort to get attention.

2. (intransitive, idiomatic) To perform the duties of an appointment senior to that actually held; to deputise for a superior. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

   Acting up is always recommended when you find yourself under a new boss.

Synonyms

• (misbehave): carry on, act out

Translations

to misbehave, cause trouble

• Finnish: kiukutella (fi), vihoitella (fi), oikutella (fi)
• French: (informal) enquiquiner (fr), énerver (fr), (colloquial) courir sur le haricot (fr), (formal) importuner (fr), (vulgar) péter les pruneaux (fr)
• Hungarian: rendetlenkedik, rosszul viselkedik
• Maori: haututū, hīanga, tīhoihoi

See also

• throw a tantrum

Anagrams

• caput