act out

Meaning

To perform a scene, story, or play using gestures, actions, and speech. It is commonly used when actors rehearse, when children play-act scenarios, or when someone physically demonstrates an event that happened.

Examples

• Instead of just telling the story, she decided to act out the funniest parts for us.

  Instead of just telling the story, she decided to act out the funniest parts for us.

• The director asked the actors to act out the argument scene without any words.

  The director asked the actors to act out the argument scene without any words.

• Kids love to act out their favorite scenes from superhero movies.

  Kids love to act out their favorite scenes from superhero movies.

• During the drama class, we had to act out a job interview gone wrong.

  During the drama class, we had to act out a job interview gone wrong.

• He's great at charades because he knows how to act out clues quickly.

  He's great at charades because he knows how to act out clues quickly.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ He acted out the main character in the movie.

  ✓ He played the main character in the movie.

  We use 'play' or 'star as' for a full role or character in a production. 'Act out' refers to performing a specific brief action, scene, or behavior.

• ✗ She acted up the script beautifully.

  ✓ She acted out the script beautifully.

  'Act up' is a phrasal verb that means to misbehave or malfunction. To perform a written scene physically, you must use 'act out'.

Related Expressions

Practice

• The drama teacher told us to ___ the first scene of Hamlet.

  💡 perform the actions of

  Show answer

  act out

• In charades, you have to ___ clues without speaking.

  💡 express through physical action

  Show answer

  act out