act out

1. To behave poorly or inappropriately, especially considering one's age. My son is always so happy at home, so I can't understand why he's suddenly acting out at school. You're in middle school now, so if you act out in class, you will be sent to the principal's office.

2. To perform a role, often an imaginary one (as in a play). Jennifer did a superb job acting out the role of Auntie Mame in the play. I don't want to upset my mom during the holidays, so I am acting out the part of dutiful daughter.

3. To express one's negative feelings, usually to another person. I got tired of Mark constantly acting out his anger out on me, so I ended our relationship.

4. To communicate through actions or gestures instead of words. Henry was suffering from a severe case of laryngitis and had lost his voice, so he had to act out his thoughts during the meeting. There's no talking in this game—you have to act out the movie you're assigned, and we will try to guess it.

1. to perform in real life a role that one has imagined in a fantasy. When I was onstage, I was really acting an old fantasy out. I acted out an old fantasy onstage.

2. to convert one's bad feelings into action rather than words. Don't act your aggressions out on me! She acted out her aggression.

3. to demonstrate or communicate something through gestures or action rather than words. Act your request out, if you can't say it. She had a sore throat and had to act out her request.

1. Perform or portray something or someone, as in As she read to the class, the teacher had each child act out a different character in the story . [c. 1600]

2. Express unconscious feelings or impulses through one's behavior, without being aware of it. For example, She acted out her anger at her father by screaming at her husband. This meaning comes from 20th-century psychological theory and usually (but not always) refers to negative or hostile impulses and emotions. The term is sometimes used without an object to mean "misbehave" or "behave disruptively," as in The child is acting out in class. [First half of 1900s] In both usages, out means "openly" or "publicly."