act up

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: ŭp, IPA^(key): /ækt ˈʌp/, [ækˈtɐʔp]
• (US) enPR: ŭp, IPA^(key): /ækt ˈʌp/, [ækˈtʌp̚]
• (Australia) IPA^(key): /ækt ˈap/, [ækˈtäp]

  • Audio (Australia):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌp

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.

   Synonyms: carry on, act out, play up

   Coordinate term: kick up

   My allergies act up during hay fever season.

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

   My car started acting up after I drove through that huge puddle.

2. (intransitive, idiomatic) To perform the duties of an appointment senior to that actually held; to deputise for a superior.

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

   • 2017, Adam Kay, This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor:

     A few months through my contract, my clinical supervisor said that a registrar was leaving the post early for a research job, and asked if I’d be interested in acting up on the rota.

Translations

to misbehave, to cause trouble — see also bother,‎ throw a tantrum

• Esperanto: petoli
• 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), faire n'importe quoi, déconner (fr)
• Hungarian: rendetlenkedik (hu), rosszul viselkedik
• Māori: haututū, hīanga, tīhoihoi
• Polish: rozrabiać (pl) impf, psocić (pl) impf, broić (pl) impf, łobuzować impf, dokazywać (pl) impf, dawać się we znaki (pl) impf, dać się we znaki pf
• Spanish: alterarse (es), dar guerra, ponerse en un​/​ese plan

See also

• throw a tantrum

Anagrams

• caput