ADJ
- charitable, kind
- heroic
- a heroic act of bravery
- aggressive, barbaric, hostile, provocative, terrorist, violent
- appalling, despicable, outrageous, terrible
- criminal, illegal, unlawful, wrongful
- careless, foolish, impulsive
- conscious, deliberate, positive, voluntary, wilful
- private
- a private act of revenge
- public
- creative, dramatic, physical, political, symbolic
- homosexual, sex/sexual
- balancing, disappearing, juggling, vanishing
- The UN must perform a difficult balancing act between the two sides in the conflict
VERB + ACT
- commit (law) , perform
- charged with committing an act of gross indecency
PREP
- in the ~ of (= doing something)
- ~ of
- For Jane, the act of writing was always difficult
PHRASES
- an act of faith, love, violence, will, worship, etc., catch sb in the act (of doing sth)
- He was caught in the act of stealing
- the simple/very act of doing sth
- The very act of writing out your plan clarifies what you need to do
VERB + ACT
- bring in, introduce, pass
- The Act was passed by a majority of 175 votes to 143
- amend
- repeal
- The old Act has now been repealed
- breach, contravene
- The company had breached the 1994 Companies Act
ACT + VERB
- become law, come into force
- The new Children's Act will come into force next year
- contain sth, say sth, state sth
- The Act contains regulations for banks and building societies
PREP
- under an/the ~
- He was charged under the Firearms Act of 1977
ADJ
- class (informal) (used for sb who does sth well)
- Their new striker looks a class act
- double
- comedy double act French and Saunders
- live
- their reputation as one of rock's most impressive live acts
- main, support
- The main act will come on at about ten o'clock
- cabaret, circus, comedy, song-and-dance, stage, variety
VERB + ACT
- do, perform
- He does a little song-and-dance act
- rehearse, work on
ADJ
- opening
- final, last
- first, second, etc.
PREP
- in (the) ~
- The king is killed in the opening act
VERB + ACT
- put on
- Don't take any notice?she's just putting on an act!
ADV
- at once, immediately, promptly, quickly, swiftly
- The government must act promptly to change this law
- correctly, legally, properly
- illegally, improperly, unconstitutionally, unlawfully, wrongly
- reasonably, responsibly, sensibly, wisely
- dishonestly, dishonourably, unreasonably
- oddly, strangely, suspiciously
- Jenny has been acting rather strangely recently
- bravely
- decisively
- effectively
- in good faith
- His defence was that he had acted in good faith
- in self defence
- The jury accepted that he had acted in self defence
- accordingly
- George knew about the letter and acted accordingly
PREP
- against
- The government needs to act against the sale of these dangerous toys
- for/on behalf of sb
- His solicitors are continuing to act for him
- like
- Stop acting like a spoilt child. hormones in the brain that act like natural painkillers
- on
- Alcohol acts quickly on the brain
- out of
- I suspected that he was acting out of malice
PHRASES
- act in sb's best interests
- We are all acting in the best interests of the children