act

Meanings

1. To do something, especially in order to deal with a situation.
2. To perform a role in a play or film.
3. To behave in a particular way.

Example sentences

• "He acted quickly when he saw the smoke."

  Level A1, Meaning 1

• "She acts in a school play every spring."

  Level A2, Meaning 2

• "Why are you acting so strangely today?"

  Level A2, Meaning 3

• "The doctor acted on the test results at once."

  Level B1, Meaning 1

Synonyms and antonyms

Look-alikes and common mistakes

• react : React means to respond to something that has already happened. Act means to do something.
• behave : Behave is about manners and conduct. Act can also mean to take steps or to perform.

Word family and forms

Forms: acts, acted, acting

Word partners

Words and phrases that often go with "act".

• act quickly
• act as
• act like
• act in a play
• act on advice
• act your age

Idioms and phrases

act your age

Behave in a way that fits your age, not like a child.

"Please act your age and stop shouting."

Origin

Act comes from Latin acta and actum, which mean things done, from the verb agere, to do or to drive. It reached English in the 1300s by way of Old French. The same Latin root gave us action, active, actor and many other words about doing.

Checked against: Wiktionary, the free dictionary, Dictionary.com.

How to remember it

Act is a short word with a hard sound at each end, like a quick movement. Do it, and you act.

Test yourself

Learn next at A1

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