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Glite Dictionary
to act squirrelly

to act squirrelly

1 8.9
Behave in a strange, nervous, or unpredictable way
  • phrasal verb
  • /ækt ˈskwɜrli/
  • Informal
translation icon : comportarse de manera extraña
  • If he continues to act squirrelly, I'm going to have to ask him what's wrong.

Examples

  • Been acting squirrelly all morning.

    Predator (1987)

  • The dog always acts squirrelly when it hears thunder.

  • She starts to act squirrelly whenever she gets nervous before a performance.

Synonyms

to run scared
vsto act squirrelly
  • Informal
14 5.7

Act in a nervous way because you are afraid or feel pressure

is broader covering odd or unpredictable actions not only fear-driven nervousness
to act erratically
vsto act squirrelly
1 6.3

Behave in a way you cannot predict, often changing suddenly

is more about odd nervous behaviour rather than only unpredictability

How Unpredictable

to act squirrelly
  • Informal
1 8.9

Surface Forms

act squirrelly infinitive
acted squirrelly past
acted squirrelly past participle
acting squirrelly present participle
acts squirrelly third person singular

Morphology

act + squirrelly

The adjective 'squirrelly' means restless or behaving strangely, and the verb 'act' plus an adjective routinely forms a compositional meaning 'behave in that way.' Given that a learner knows both constituents, the overall meaning is directly derivable and predictable, so the expression is transparent.

Etymology

Act squirrelly may come from the image of a real squirrel: it darts around, twitches, and hides nuts, so it looks nervous and hard to predict. So, to act squirrelly means to behave in a 'nervous' or 'unpredictable' way.