to act like a cretin
- idiom
- Slur
:
comportarse como un cretino
- Stop acting like a cretin—listen to what I'm saying for once.
Examples
-
She realized she had acted like a cretin and quickly apologized for her behavior.
-
He always acts like a cretin during meetings.
-
If you act like a cretin in public, people won't take you seriously.
-
Don't act like a cretin!
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If you act like a cretin at the party, your friends may stop inviting you.
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She felt embarrassed after she acted like a cretin during the discussion.
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You should stop acting like a cretin and start taking your work seriously.
Synonyms
88
2.1
Act in a foolish or playful way without taking things seriously
42
4.1
Act in a way that makes you look silly or embarrassed
7
4.6
Act in a silly way to make others laugh or avoid being serious
3
8.0
To behave in a silly or embarrassing way to get attention
2
8.1
To act in a silly, embarrassing way to make people laugh
1
9.4
Act in a foolish way and ignore good advice
1
9.9
To behave in a silly or clumsy way
1
9.9
To make yourself look foolish by doing or saying silly things
1
9.9
Act in a foolish, annoying way instead of being serious
1
9.9
To behave in a rude, stupid way
To behave in a very foolish and rude way
Behave in a very rude and thoughtless way that upsets other people
Behave in a silly or foolish way
Act in a foolish way that can cause trouble
Behave in a silly, not very smart way
Behave in a silly, clumsy way
To behave in a foolish and clumsy way
To behave in a foolish, clumsy way that makes people laugh
To behave foolishly or clumsily
To behave in a silly or annoying way
To behave in a silly and immature way
To behave in a silly way without thinking when nervous or tired
Behave in a silly, careless way to avoid serious talk
Behave in a silly, clumsy way to make people laugh at you
Act in a silly, embarrassing way
Act in a silly or stupid way
To behave in a rude or foolish way that annoys other people
Act in a foolish, clumsy way
To behave rudely or foolishly in a way that annoys others
Behave in a rude, annoying, and foolish way toward other people
Behave in a rude and stupid way
To behave in a rude and annoying way
Behave rudely and selfishly and annoy other people
To behave rudely and foolishly in a way that annoys or embarrasses people
To behave in a silly, awkward way that looks foolish
To behave foolishly and show little common sense
To behave in a silly or wild way that makes people laugh
Act in a foolish way
To behave in a very strange or wild way
To behave in a silly, rude way and break rules
Act in a foolish way because you trust people too easily
To behave in a stupid and rude way
How Stupid
- Slur
- Offensive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is fully compositional: 'act' (behave) + 'like' (similar to) + 'a cretin' (a foolish person) yields the meaning 'behave foolishly' directly from its parts. The 'act like X' construction is common cross-linguistically and follows a standard simile/comparison pattern, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
The phrase act like a cretin comes from the old word cretin, once used for people with a serious health condition that affected their thinking, and later used as an insult. So act like a cretin now means 'to behave in a very foolish or stupid way'.