to act erratically
1
6.3
- phrasal verb
:
comportarse de manera errática
- In Hainze v. Richards, the Fifth Circuit evaluated a police officer’s Title II liability after he shot and injured Kim Hainze, a man with a history of depression who was acting erratically.
Examples
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Be on high alert for any robots acting erratically.
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John McCain (R-Ariz) has been acting erratically for years now, but things are getting worse.
Blog text (23) -
The child began to act erratically during the thunderstorm, running around the house and shouting.
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When he didn't take his medication, he started to act erratically, suddenly switching from laughing to crying.
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Employees noticed that their boss had begun to act erratically, making sudden decisions without any logical reasoning.
Synonyms
1
8.9
Behave in a strange, nervous, or unpredictable way
To behave in a very strange or wild way
To behave in a silly or wild way that makes people laugh
Antonyms
How Unpredictable
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to behave unpredictably' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'act' (to behave) with 'erratically' (in an inconsistent or unpredictable way). This verb + adverb composition follows a standard, cross-linguistically common pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The phrase act erratically uses act and erratically to give the image of someone moving or changing without a steady path, like a person or animal that suddenly turns one way and then another for no clear reason. That's why act erratically means 'to behave in an unpredictable or inconsistent way'.