as in to disobey
to behave badly
scolded the children for misbehaving and sent them to bed early
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Recent Examples of misbehave
Thankfully, the family lives right next door to Poppa's massive home — giving them somewhere to send their misbehaving kids.
—
Shania Russell, EW.com, 22 Apr. 2025
Zico Kolter has a knack for getting artificial intelligence to misbehave in interesting and important ways.
—Will Knight, Wired News, 9 Apr. 2025
And thanks to the survey, conducted between October 22 and 28, pet parents might give a sigh of relief that their animal isn't the only one that misbehaves.
—John Mac Ghlionn, Newsweek, 14 Jan. 2025
Several educators have also told USA TODAY over the last few years that students misbehave in class more often since the onset of the pandemic.
—Kayla Jimenez, USA TODAY, 19 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for misbehave
Shania Russell, EW.com, 22 Apr. 2025
Zico Kolter has a knack for getting artificial intelligence to misbehave in interesting and important ways.
—Will Knight, Wired News, 9 Apr. 2025
And thanks to the survey, conducted between October 22 and 28, pet parents might give a sigh of relief that their animal isn't the only one that misbehaves.
—John Mac Ghlionn, Newsweek, 14 Jan. 2025
Several educators have also told USA TODAY over the last few years that students misbehave in class more often since the onset of the pandemic.
—Kayla Jimenez, USA TODAY, 19 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for misbehave
Recent Examples of Synonyms for misbehave
Verb
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Boasberg would later determine there was probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt for willfully disobeying his order to immediately halt deportations, but the proceedings were later blocked by an appeals court.—
Rebecca Beitsch,
The Hill,
10 July 2025
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The story references a recurring problem of drivers disobeying stop signs.—
U T Readers,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
30 June 2025
Verb
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Determined to find a way out despite the painful testing and horrific consequences for rebelling.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
13 July 2025
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Were Susan and her brothers eager to rebel and create less commercial, more challenging music than their record company would allow?—
George Varga,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
9 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Misbehave.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/misbehave. Accessed 30 Jul. 2025.
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