to act like an airhead
- idiom
- Offensive
:
hacerse el tonto
- Don't act like an airhead during the interview if you want the job.
Examples
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She tends to act like an airhead when she's nervous around new people.
-
Don't act like an airhead in front of the manager!
-
He realized he had been acting like an airhead all day due to lack of sleep.
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She always acts like an airhead during meetings.
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During the meeting, he started to act like an airhead, making silly jokes instead of addressing serious issues.
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When she forgot the important details for the presentation, it seemed like she was acting like an airhead in front of her colleagues.
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After failing the test, he couldn't help but act like an airhead, laughing off his mistakes instead of taking them seriously.
Synonyms
88
2.1
Act in a foolish or playful way without taking things seriously
2
8.1
To act in a silly, embarrassing way to make people laugh
1
9.9
To behave in a silly or clumsy way
1
9.9
To act in a foolish way
1
9.9
To behave in a rude, stupid way
1
9.9
Act in a foolish, annoying way instead of being serious
Behave in a silly, careless way to avoid serious talk
To behave foolishly and show little common sense
To do something silly without thinking
Behave in a silly, not very smart way
To behave in a foolish, clumsy way that makes people laugh
To behave foolishly or clumsily
Behave in a silly or foolish way
Behave in a silly, clumsy way
To behave in a stupid and rude way
To behave in a silly and immature way
Behave in a silly, clumsy way to make people laugh at you
Act in a silly or stupid way
Act in a foolish way because you trust people too easily
To behave in a foolish and clumsy way
To behave in a silly, awkward way that looks foolish
To behave rudely or foolishly in a way that annoys others
To behave in a rude and annoying way
Behave rudely and selfishly and annoy other people
To ignore good advice and behave foolishly
To behave in a silly or wild way that makes people laugh
Antonyms
How Silly
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'act' (behave) + 'like' (similar to) + 'airhead' (a foolish or absent-minded person) yields 'behave like a foolish person.' Although 'airhead' is informal/slang, the construction is straightforward and cross-linguistically paralleled, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can infer the meaning.
Etymology
Act like an airhead comes from the image of a person whose airhead is full of air, light and empty so there are no serious thoughts inside. That's why 'act like an airhead' means to behave in a silly or not thoughtful way.