How to Use act out in a Sentence

act out

verb
  • The only thing left to do is act out.
    — Literary Hub, 9 June 2026
  • Read on to find out why your child may be acting out, and when to seek help.
    — Melissa Willets, Parents, 5 Feb. 2026
  • The Kinahans seemed to be acting out of pure rage.
    — Ed Caesar, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025
  • If sung through onstage, the singer would have to act out a complete narrative.
    — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 12 June 2026
  • There are also stud shooters for kids who want to get hands-on with acting out an epic battle.
    — Kim Snaith, Space.com, 16 Feb. 2026
  • The feline might be acting out fear of losing their human to their new partner.
    — Maria Azzurra Volpe, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Aug. 2025
  • Those revelation scenes are amazing to act out.
    — Ronda Racha Penrice, HollywoodReporter, 12 Nov. 2025
  • Garcia says, acting out the usual blush of so many bewildered men.
    — Darío Gael Blanco, Vanity Fair, 25 Apr. 2026
  • After that, Ray began acting out.
    — Charles Trepany, USA Today, 4 Dec. 2025
  • At these screenings, the film is shown on the big screen while a cast silently acts out the entire film in front of the audience.
    — Meredith G. White, AZCentral.com, 3 Oct. 2025
  • But when Garcia began acting out as a child, the state intervened.
    — Lauren Villagran, USA Today, 18 Aug. 2025
  • This world is rarely gentle to people who are hurt, vulnerable, acting out.
    — Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 24 Dec. 2025
  • There is defiance among the four, acting out of spite for their own losses, but not what Nick’s life stands to gain.
    — David John Chávez, Mercury News, 3 Dec. 2025
  • James acts out by angrily finishing the painting of a sign on the Guinness plant wall.
    — Keith Phipps, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2025
  • But gaslighters don't necessarily act out of pure malice, Sweet says.
    — Emma Bowman, NPR, 25 Mar. 2026
  • This form of compassion helps prime us to act out our compassionate concern for others.
    — Arkansas Online, 28 Jan. 2026
  • The steps call for the highest classical technique, but they are used almost as gestures acting out a script.
    — Rachel Howard, San Francisco Chronicle, 24 Jan. 2026
  • But Rushing didn’t act out, McDonnell said.
    — Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 8 May 2026
  • As the hitmaker sang while wearing a short white robe and black belt as a dress, background dancers acted out a fight sequence behind her.
    — Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 20 Oct. 2025
  • Bimbofication is the act of dressing like an attractive dumb woman and acting out the part.
    — Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 1 Apr. 2026
  • Fleming acts out each detail with gusto, and this full sensory barrage earns him his loudest round of applause yet.
    — John Roy, Vulture, 19 Feb. 2026
  • The still-living members of the Clyburn family act out their heartbreak in a variety of ways.
    — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 13 Mar. 2026
  • Our workshop acted out parts of Shange’s text on the first day of a spring semester class in 2010.
    — Literary Hub, 29 May 2026
  • His acting out was written up multiple times, but there was no clear follow-up documented to address his needs and help him.
    — Ismael Estrada, ABC News, 12 Aug. 2025
  • Particularly when your partner has to act out romantic scenes with someone else.
    — Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 30 Mar. 2026
  • At one point, Swift acted out swooning, possibly in response to something Travis did on the field.
    — Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 28 Oct. 2025
  • Sitting with the challenges that have shaped us, far from something negative, teaches us to notice when we are spurred to act out of scarcity and fear.
    — Big Think, 1 Sep. 2025
  • Either way, maybe Yeoh can at least act out her part in the press conference Cameron promises to host if the fourth and fifth movies don’t get made.
    — Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 16 Jan. 2026
  • In order to break free of those constraints, Hedda acts out and becomes an architect of destruction.
    — Kathleen Newman-Bremang, Refinery29, 23 Oct. 2025
  • The state crafts the rules and pressures districts to follow them, while school boards often act out of fear of punishment for being found out of compliance.
    — Stephana Ferrell, The Orlando Sentinel, 20 Aug. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'act out.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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