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PlainSpell

act

/ækt/noun, verb, adverb

act is spelled A-C-T: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 200 times per million words in written English, the 505th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, act means “Something done, a deed” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of act is acts.

How many letters and syllables are in act?

Letters3: A-C-T
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing200 times per million words; the 505th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is act?

Act appears 200 times per million words in written English, the 505th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce act?

  • US /ækt/
  • US [ækt]
  • British /ækt/

Act has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-ACT_(test).wav, En-us-act.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-act.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with act?

5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as act from its last stressed vowel (/ækt/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: cat, tac.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of act

  • acts plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • acting participle, present
  • acted participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • more act comparative
  • most act superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does act mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Something done, a deed.

    an act of goodwill

  2. 2

    obsoleteActuality.

  3. 3

    Something done once and for all, as distinguished from a work.

  4. 4

    A product of a legislative body, a statute.

  5. 5

    (In the United States) A legislative proposal, a bill that has not yet become law.

  6. 6

    The process of doing something.

    He was caught in the act of stealing.

  7. 7

    A formal or official record of something done.

  8. 8

    A division of a theatrical performance.

    The pivotal moment in the play was in the first scene of the second act.

verb

  1. 1

    To do something.

    If you don’t act soon, you will be in trouble.

  2. 2

    obsoleteTo do (something); to perform.

  3. 3

    To perform a theatrical role.

    I started acting at the age of eleven in my local theatre.

  4. 4

    Of a play: to be acted out (well or badly).

  5. 5

    To behave in a certain manner for an indefinite length of time.

    A dog which acts aggressively is likely to bite.

  6. 6

    To convey an appearance of being.

    He acted unconcerned so the others wouldn’t worry.

  7. 7

    To do something that causes a change binding on the doer.

    act on behalf of John

  8. 8

    To have an effect (on).

    High-pressure oxygen acts on the central nervous system and may cause convulsions or death.

noun

as ACT
  1. 1

    An instance of a certain standardized college admissions test in the United States, originally called the American College Test.

  2. 2

    Acronym of acceptance and commitment therapy.

noun

as Act
  1. 1

    Ellipsis of Act of Parliament.

adverb

  1. 1

    Clipping of actually.

    james did u act enjoy that juice? looked like u were gagging icl

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate act?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of act: a..

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Act in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchacte (deed), loi (statute), action (process of doing), agir, faire (to do something), jouer (to perform a theatrical role)
GermanHandlung, Tat, Akt (deed), Gesetz (statute), handeln, tun (to do something)
Portugueseato (deed), lei (statute), ação (process of doing), agir (to do something), atuar (to perform a theatrical role), ata (formal record of something done)
Spanishacto (deed), actuar (to do something), hecho (formal record of something done)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does act come from?

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”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after act