Word.ws English Dictionary

act

/ækt/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/ækt/

act noun: something done, a deed. Also the ellipsis of act of parliament.

Noun (1)

act (countable and uncountable, plural acts)

  1. (countable) Something done, a deed.
    • an act of goodwill
    • That best portion of a good man's life, / His little, nameless, unremembered acts / Of kindness and of love.1798, William Wordsworth, Lines
    Synonyms:
    deed
  2. (obsolete, uncountable) Actuality.
    • The seeds of plants are not at first in act, but in possibility, what they afterward grow to be.[1594], Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Iohn Windet, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page)
  3. Something done once and for all, as distinguished from a work.
  4. (countable) A product of a legislative body, a statute.
    • But was it responsible governance to pass the Longitude Act without other efforts to protect British seamen? Or might it have been subterfuge—a disingenuous attempt to shift attention away from the realities of their life at sea.2012 March, William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter, “The British Longitude Act Reconsidered”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 87
    Synonyms:
    statute
  5. (countable) (In the United States) A legislative proposal, a bill that has not yet become law.
    • Under current law, employers can drag out the union election process... Under the PRO Act, workers and the NLRB set union election procedures. The employer is not involved.2021 February 4, Celine McNicholas, Margaret Poydock, Lynn Rhinehart, “How the PRO Act restores workers' rights to unionize”, in Economic Policy Institute
  6. The process of doing something.
    • He was caught in the act of stealing.
  7. (countable) A formal or official record of something done.
  8. (countable) A division of a theatrical performance.
    • “H'm !” he said, “so, so—it is a tragedy in a prologue and three acts. I am going down this afternoon to see the curtain fall for the third time on what […] will prove a good burlesque ; but it all began dramatically enough. It was last Saturday […] that two boys, playing in the little spinney just...1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Lisson Grove Mystery”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London...
    • The pivotal moment in the play was in the first scene of the second act.
  9. (countable) A performer or performers in a show.
    • Which act did you prefer? The soloist or the band?
  10. (countable) Any organized activity.
    • The minute you let it be known you're planning a sales campaign everybody wants to get into the act.1934, Babette Hughes, One egg: a farce in one act, page 46
  11. (countable) A display of behaviour.
    1. (countable) A display of behaviour meant to deceive.
      • to put on an act
      • He said, "I'm just curious, is this for real or just an act? / Can't tell if you love or hate me, never met someone like that"2023 September 15, Tate McRae, Amy Allen, Jasper Harris, Ryan Tedder, “Greedy”, in Think Later, performed by Tate McRae
  12. A thesis maintained in public, in some English universities, by a candidate for a degree, or to show the proficiency of a student.
  13. (European-Union) A regulation (see Usage notes).

Verb

act (third-person singular simple present acts, present participle acting, simple past and past participle acted)

  1. (intransitive) To do something.
    • If you don’t act soon, you will be in trouble.
  2. (obsolete, transitive) To do (something); to perform.
    • that we act our temporal affairs with a deſire no greater than our neceſſity1651, Jer[emy] Taylor, “Signes of Purity of Intention”, in The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Francis Ashe […], →OCLC, page 23
    • Industry doth beget by producing good habits, and facility of acting things expedient for us to do.a. 1678 (date written), Isaac Barrow, “(please specify the chapter name or sermon number)”, in The Works of Dr. Isaac Barrow. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: A[braham] J[ohn]...
  3. (intransitive) To perform a theatrical role.
    • I started acting at the age of eleven in my local theatre.
  4. (intransitive) Of a play: to be acted out (well or badly).
    • But whatever types he assumes, the need to have a good play which acts delightfully well before the audience, and to their delectation, is the dominant thrust. If the play acts well, the director gets the credits.2011, Effiong Johnson, Play Production Processes, page 180
  5. (intransitive) To behave in a certain manner for an indefinite length of time.
    • A dog which acts aggressively is likely to bite.
    • I believe that Bill’s stuck-up because of the way that he acts.
  6. (copulative) To convey an appearance of being.
    • He acted unconcerned so the others wouldn’t worry.
  7. (intransitive) To do something that causes a change binding on the doer.
    • act on behalf of John
  8. (intransitive) To have an effect (on).
    • High-pressure oxygen acts on the central nervous system and may cause convulsions or death.
    • Gravitational force acts on heavy bodies.
  9. (transitive) To play (a role).
    • He’s been acting Shakespearean leads since he was twelve.
  10. (transitive) To feign.
    • He acted the angry parent, but was secretly amused.
    • With acted fear the villain thus pursued.1697, Virgil, “The Second Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
  11. (intransitive) To carry out work as a legal representative in relation to a particular legal matter.
    • A lawyer cannot act until they have been formally instructed by their client.
  12. (intransitive) To possess an action onto (some other structure). Examples include the group action of a group on a set, the action of a ring on a module by scalar multiplication, and the action of a group or algebra on a vector space via a representation.
    • This group acts on the circle, so it can't be left-orderable!
  13. (obsolete, transitive) To move to action; to actuate; to animate.
    • Self-love, the spring of motion, acts the soul.1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], (please specify |epistle=I to IV), London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC
  14. (Scotland, obsolete, transitive) To enact; to decree.

Proper noun capitalized: ACT

ACT

  1. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of the Australian Capital Territory: a federal territory of Australia.
    • Osteoporosis Australia is calling for the 'no hat, no play' policy in school playgrounds to be reassessed in the ACT and Tasmania, because children are not getting enough sunlight.2006 April 26, “'No hat, no play' rethink urged”, in ABC News, archived from the original on 16 Dec 2024
  2. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of American College Test.
  3. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of Association of Consumers and Taxpayers, a political party of New Zealand.
    1. (New Zealand) ACT New Zealand, a liberal conservative political party in New Zealand.

Noun (2) capitalized: ACT

ACT (countable and uncountable, plural ACTs)

  1. (countable) An instance of a certain standardized college admissions test in the United States, originally called the American College Test.
  2. (abbreviation, acronym, uncountable) Acronym of acceptance and commitment therapy.

Noun (3) capitalized: Act

Act (plural Acts)

  1. (abbreviation, ellipsis) Ellipsis of Act of Parliament.

Also used as

act is also the ellipsis of act of parliament.

act is also the clipping of actually.

act meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam

act in Hindi

display of behaviour
व्यवहार vyavhār
deed
कार्य kārya, काम kām, कृत्य kŕtya, कृति kŕti, कर्म karm
statute
अधिनियम adhiniyam
process of doing
कार्य kārya

act in Tamil

display of behaviour
நடிப்பு naṭippu
deed
செயல் ceyal
statute
சட்டம் caṭṭam
process of doing
செயல் ceyal

act in Telugu

deed
చేత cēta, పని pani
statute
చట్టం caṭṭaṁ
process of doing
చర్య carya, క్రియ kriya
drama: division of theatrical performance
నాటకం లోని భాగం nāṭakaṁ lōni bhāgaṁ

act in Malayalam

display of behaviour
അഭിനയം abhinayaṁ
deed
ചെയ്തി ceyti, പ്രവൃത്തി pravr̥tti
to do something
പ്രവർത്തിക്കുക pravaṟttikkuka
to perform a theatrical role
അഭിനയിക്കുക abhinayikkuka, നടിക്കുക naṭikkuka
More languagesFewer languages
act in Kannada
ಆಕ್ಟ್
act in Odia
ଧାରା dhārā
act in Sanskrit
कार्य kārya, अङ्क aṅka
act in Sinhala
ක්රියාව kriyāwa, පනත panata, අංකය aṁkaya, නාට්යයෙහි අංකය nāṭyayehi aṁkaya
act in Nepali
गर्नु garnu
act in Tagalog
batas, gawa
act in Arabic
عَمَل ʕamal, قَانُون qānūn, مَثَّلَ maṯṯala, تَصَرَّفَ taṣarrafa
act in Malay
pura-pura, lakon, perbuatan, tindakan
act in Indonesian
tindakan, perlakuan, perbuatan, undang-undang
act in Persian
کار kâr, قانون qânun, کردن kardan
act in Thai
องก์ ong
act in Vietnamese
hành vi, lớp, diễn, diễn xuất

Examples of act in a sentence

  • He’s acting strangely—I think there’s something wrong with him.
  • “H'm !” he said, “so, so—it is a tragedy in a prologue and three acts.1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Lisson Grove Mystery”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin...
  • Uplifted hands that at convenient times / Could act extortion and the worst of crimes.1782, William Cowper, Expostulation:

All 40 example sentences with act

Synonyms of act

Forms of act

Noun
pluralacts
pluralACTs
pluralActs
Verb
third-person singular presentacts
present participleacting
past participleacted
pastacted
second-person singular present (archaic)actest
second-person singular past (archaic)actedst
third-person singular present (archaic)acteth
Adverb
comparativemore act
superlativemost act
Proper noun
alternative formA.C.T.
alternative formA. C. T.

Past tense of act: acted

Plural of act: acts

Origin of act

From Middle English acte, from Old French acte, from Latin ācta (“register of events”), plural of āctum (“decree, law”), from agere (“to do, to act”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti. Compare German Akte (“file”). Partially displaced deed, from Old English dǣd (“act, deed”).

Clipping of actually.

Words formed from act

Phrases with act

56 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with act

23 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about act

What does act mean?
Act means something done, a deed.
What is act in Hindi?
Act in Hindi is व्यवहार (vyavhār), कार्य (kārya), कर्म (karm). See Act meaning in Hindi.
How do you use act in a sentence?
He’s acting strangely—I think there’s something wrong with him.
What part of speech is act?
Act can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce act?
Act is pronounced /ækt/ (UK).
What is the plural of act?
The plural of act is acts.

Words near act in the dictionary

  1. acrylyls
  2. acrystalliferous
  3. acs
  4. ACSI
  5. ACSM
  6. act
  7. act a fool
  8. act chicken
  9. act curtain
  10. act curtains
  11. act of adjournal

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: act (page history and authors); ACT (page history and authors); Act (page history and authors); act (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-act.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-act.wav.

Cite this entry: “act.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/act. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.