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Never underestimate the power of the State to act out its own massive fantasies.
Don DeLillo

Meaning of "act out" in the English dictionary

Dictionary
DICTIONARY
section

PRONUNCIATION OF ACT OUT

act out play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF ACT OUT

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Act out is a verb.
The verb is the part of the sentence that is conjugated and expresses action and state of being.

See the conjugation of the verb act out in English.

WHAT DOES ACT OUT MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Acting out

Acting out is a psychological term from the parlance of defense mechanisms and self-control, meaning to perform an action in contrast to bearing and managing the impulse to perform it. The acting done is usually anti-social and may take the form of acting on the impulses of an addiction or in a means designed to garner attention. In general usage, the action performed is destructive to self or others and may inhibit the development of more constructive responses to the feelings in question. The term is used in this way in sexual addiction treatment, psychotherapy, criminology and parenting.

Definition of act out in the English dictionary

The definition of act out in the dictionary is to reproduce in actions, often by mime. Other definition of act out is to express unconsciously in overt behaviour.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO ACT OUT

PRESENT

Present
I act out
you act out
he/she/it acts out
we act out
you act out
they act out
Present continuous
I am acting out
you are acting out
he/she/it is acting out
we are acting out
you are acting out
they are acting out
Present perfect
I have acted out
you have acted out
he/she/it has acted out
we have acted out
you have acted out
they have acted out
Present perfect continuous
I have been acting out
you have been acting out
he/she/it has been acting out
we have been acting out
you have been acting out
they have been acting out
Present tense is used to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time or over a period that includes the present time. The present perfect refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.

PAST

Past
I acted out
you acted out
he/she/it acted out
we acted out
you acted out
they acted out
Past continuous
I was acting out
you were acting out
he/she/it was acting out
we were acting out
you were acting out
they were acting out
Past perfect
I had acted out
you had acted out
he/she/it had acted out
we had acted out
you had acted out
they had acted out
Past perfect continuous
I had been acting out
you had been acting out
he/she/it had been acting out
we had been acting out
you had been acting out
they had been acting out
Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past,

FUTURE

Future
I will act out
you will act out
he/she/it will act out
we will act out
you will act out
they will act out
Future continuous
I will be acting out
you will be acting out
he/she/it will be acting out
we will be acting out
you will be acting out
they will be acting out
Future perfect
I will have acted out
you will have acted out
he/she/it will have acted out
we will have acted out
you will have acted out
they will have acted out
Future perfect continuous
I will have been acting out
you will have been acting out
he/she/it will have been acting out
we will have been acting out
you will have been acting out
they will have been acting out
The future is used to express circumstances that will occur at a later time.

CONDITIONAL

Conditional
I would act out
you would act out
he/she/it would act out
we would act out
you would act out
they would act out
Conditional continuous
I would be acting out
you would be acting out
he/she/it would be acting out
we would be acting out
you would be acting out
they would be acting out
Conditional perfect
I would have act out
you would have act out
he/she/it would have act out
we would have act out
you would have act out
they would have act out
Conditional perfect continuous
I would have been acting out
you would have been acting out
he/she/it would have been acting out
we would have been acting out
you would have been acting out
they would have been acting out
Conditional or "future-in-the-past" tense refers to hypothetical or possible actions.

IMPERATIVE

Imperative
you act out
we let´s act out
you act out
The imperative is used to form commands or requests.
NONFINITE VERB FORMS
Infinitive
to act out
Past participle
acted out
Present Participle
acting out
Infinitive shows the action beyond temporal perspective. The present participle or gerund shows the action during the session. The past participle shows the action after completion.

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE ACT OUT

act
act of ccontrition
act of congress
act of contrition
act of faith
act of God
act of indemnity
Act of Parliament
act of war
act on
act the goat
act up
acta
actability
actable
Actaeon
actant
actg
ACTH
actin

WORDS THAT END LIKE ACT OUT

check out
contract out
cut out
eat out
flat out
get out
hit out
left out
let out
night out
opt out
point out
print out
push the boat out
put out
set out
shoot out
sit out
sort out
start out
sweat out

Synonyms and antonyms of act out in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «act out» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF ACT OUT

Find out the translation of act out to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of act out from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «act out» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

表演出来
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

actuar
570 millions of speakers

English

act out
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

बाहर कार्य
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

العمل خارج
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

разыгрывают
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

atuar
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

কাজ করা
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

agir sur
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

melakonkan
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Sie handeln
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

演じる
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

행동으로
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

tumindak
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

hành động ra
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

வெளியே செயல்பட
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

काम करा
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

Harekete geçmek
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

agire
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

działać z
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

розігрують
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

acționa în
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

ενεργούν έξω
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

tree uit
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

agera ut
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

handle ut
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of act out

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «ACT OUT»

The term «act out» is regularly used and occupies the 55.945 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Regularly used
74
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «act out» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of act out
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «act out».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «ACT OUT» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «act out» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «act out» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about act out

EXAMPLES

10 QUOTES WITH «ACT OUT»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word act out.
1
Quinton Aaron
Having a chance to be someone other than yourself and to act out stuff that makes people look at you, like, wow, and that's why I love acting so much.
2
Karen Armstrong
The hajj is one of the five essential practices of Islam; when they make the pilgrimage to Mecca, Muslims ritually act out the central principles of their faith.
3
Reza Aslan
A cosmic war is like a ritual drama in which participants act out on Earth a battle they believe is actually taking place in the heavens.
4
Angela Bassett
My mom was always pretty supportive. She saw me do plays and she'd always act out the parts I did. My aunt, who played a big part in my life, was a little bit more reserved, because if they don't see you on TV every week they think you must be starving.
5
Elliott Carter
An auditory scenario for the players to act out with their instruments.
6
David Chase
I have a huge editor in my head who's always making me miserable. But sometimes, I try to let my unconscious act out.
7
John Francis Daley
Boys from my generation all love Jim Carrey! But you know, just being in his house with him and pitching jokes that he would act out, literally felt like the dreams that I had, so it was amazing.
8
Madison Davenport
I actually used to make these little plays. I would stand there, and I would act out where I was dying or something. I would make them sit there and watch all my plays. I would be talking in gibberish language, like I was talking in a different language, and my parents would be like, 'Oh that was great!' and I'd be like, 'Wait, it's not done!'
9
Geena Davis
When my friends and I would act out movies as kids, we'd play the guys' roles, since they had the most interesting things to do. Decades later, I can hardly believe my sons and daughter are seeing many of the same limited choices in current films.
10
Don DeLillo
Never underestimate the power of the State to act out its own massive fantasies.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «ACT OUT»

Discover the use of act out in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to act out and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Shake-it-up Tales!: Stories to Sing, Dance, Drum, and Act Out
Time-tested folktales for audience participation and story play presented by children's librarian MacDonald.
Margaret Read MacDonald, 2000
2
Acting Out
Six original one-act plays for middle graders written by six Newbery winning authors.
Justin Chanda, Sharon Creech, Avi, 2008
3
Methods for Assessing Children's Syntax
act-out is a relatively difficult task and as such is not well suited for very young children, who may be prone to act without fully processing or understanding the stimuli. Nor is the task well suited as a measure of certain aspects of syntactic and ...
Dana McDaniel, Cecile McKee, Helen Smith Cairns, 1998
4
Writing Workouts That Work (eBook)
Act Out a Verb” Cards “Act Out a Verb” Cards (Rotten in the Predicate) Here ... Out a Verb WAS WERE HAS Act Out a Verb Act Out a Verb Act Out a Verb HAVE HAD DO Act Out a Verb Act Out a Verb Act Out a Verb DOES MIGHT DID Act Out a ...
Mary F. Burke, Judy Gould, 2005
5
Theories of Performance
Act Out: Contested Definitions 18 Act Out: ISO Constituting Yourself 20 Act Out: What's Inside Your Head? 45 Act Out: When “Flock” Meets Performance 78 Act Out: Your Poetic License Is Issued! 82 Act Out: Shaping Drama 91 Act Out: ...
Elizabeth Bell, 2008
6
Once Upon a Time: Using Storytelling, Creative Drama, and ...
Children can act out each group's performances, but you can also write up the whole story as a Reader's Theater script, adding some extra dialogue for Farmer Brown and the judges at the contest. Duck & Goose. Hills, Tad. Illus. by the author .
Judy Freeman, 2007
7
Deceived: Facing Sexual Betrayal Lies and Secrets
women are empathetic to Lorena Bobbit's behavior and have threatened or followed through with cutting off their partner's penis. Only a minority of betrayed women actually act out their fury violently. More prevalent are homicidal thoughts and ...
Claudia Black, 2013
8
Act It Out!: 20 Terrific Techniques for Teaching Any Bible Story
Presents 20 different dramatic activities that can be used to act out any Bible story, character, or theme.
Randy Ritz, Lise Caldwell, 1999
9
The Public Health and Local Government Act, 1875: (38 & 39 ...
7, express power was given to local authorities to defray expenses incurred by them in the execution of tho Act out of a rate ; this Act is repealed and its place taken by the Factories and Workshops' Act, 1878, 41 Vic. c. 16, which makes no ...
Great Britain, John Vesey Vesey Fitzgerald, 1881
10
The Comedy Bible: From Stand-up to Sitcom--The Comedy ...
... ranting — where you pace and talk nonstop (with attitude) about your topic into a tape recorder. Don't think funny, but rather be funny. After creating my act-outs this way, I'll jot down a short phrase to remind me of the act-out, for example, ...
Judy Carter, 2010

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «ACT OUT»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term act out is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Cubs should be active at trade deadline with chance of postseason …
The Cubs need not act out of desperation or tear apart their well-conceived plan to build a perennial contender on the North Side. Yet, they ... «FOXSports.com, Jul 15»
2
YMCA camp focused on spiritual, physical well-being of children
During reading time, a few staff members also act out what is happening in the book, which was clearly a thrill to the children, who found ... «Statesville Record & Landmark, Jul 15»
3
Parasiliti: Little League parents should remain on target
That questionable behavior is in the spectator section, where well-meaning grownups act out. In some corners, it is all justified. In at least one, ... «Herald-Mail Media, Jul 15»
4
In 'Sunset Baby,' actors make story of black revolutionary relevant in …
(Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Michaela Johansen, 'Nina,' and Calbert Beck, 'Damon,' act out a scene during a rehearsal of "Sunset ... «Salt Lake Tribune, Jul 15»
5
Cult classic actor Sestero will return to screen 'The Room'
Johnson said after the screening, Sestero will read from his book, answer questions and act out scenes from the movie with audience members ... «messenger-inquirer, Jul 15»
6
Humans Recap 7/5/15: Season 1 Episode 2 "Episode 2"
At school, Mattie and a buddy try and hack a synth to make it act out but then the alarm goes off and they run off panicked. Peter leaves for work ... «Celebrity Dirty Laundry, Jul 15»
7
The Persecution of Amy Schumer: Political Correctness and Comedy
Just as often, she actively seeks our disapproval, and we watch Schumer act out in ways ranging from annoying to sacrilegious. In other words ... «Daily Beast, Jul 15»
8
Follow your dream
TV's music reality shows offer contestants a chance to act out their dreams and age is no barrier to taking part or to success. Everybody at least ... «Newnan Times-Herald, Jul 15»
9
Why Does Special Education Have to be Special?
... at the same rate, slow learners will become frustrated and often act out. For many, this is why they get sent off to special ed in the first place. «Education Week, Jul 15»
10
Heavy hearts and a sense of hope at Lac-Mégantic service
They worried she might act out during Sunday's ceremony, but held tightly against her grandmother's chest, she didn't make a sound. “You hold ... «Montreal Gazette, Jul 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Act out [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/act-out>. Apr 2024 ».
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