misbehavemis‧be‧have /ˌmɪsbɪˈheɪv/ verb [intransitive] 
Verb Table Examples
George has been misbehaving at school. Students have a tendency to misbehave themselves at exam time.
Verb TableVERB TABLE
misbehave
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | misbehave |
| he, she, it | misbehaves | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | misbehaved |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have misbehaved |
| he, she, it | has misbehaved | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had misbehaved |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will misbehave |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have misbehaved |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am misbehaving |
| he, she, it | is misbehaving | |
| you, we, they | are misbehaving | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was misbehaving |
| you, we, they | were misbehaving | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been misbehaving |
| he, she, it | has been misbehaving | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been misbehaving |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be misbehaving |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been misbehaving |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- Kids often misbehave when they are bored or tired.
- Larry and Myesha have been misbehaving all day.
- We never dared to misbehave in Miss Dill's classes.
- As soon as the child stops misbehaving the parent can attend to him or her again.
- It says a child can not be misbehaving at the same time that he is behaving well.
- One child was cuffed for misbehaving at a bus stop.
- She went outside to talk to him, threatening all sorts of terrible punishments for anyone who misbehaved in her absence.
- The Raiders returned to their old, misbehaving selves, collecting 10 penalties for 90 yards.
- When caught misbehaving a true cat pretends he was doing something else.
Longman Language Activatorto behave badly► behave badly
Word family to be rude, unhelpful, or unpleasant and not do what you are told to do: · I knew I'd behaved very badly, and I was sorry.· The kids behaved so badly that I was embarrassed.
► badly behaved someone who is badly behaved behaves badly - use this especially about children: · The hotel was full of badly behaved celebrities.
► misbehave if children misbehave , they deliberately behave badly by being noisy, rude etc: · Kids often misbehave when they are bored or tired.· We never dared to misbehave in Miss Dill's classes.
► get into trouble if someone gets into trouble , they do something that is illegal or against the rules, especially something not very serious, and get caught doing it: · Tony is always getting into trouble at school.· Don't copy my work or we'll both get into trouble.get into trouble with: · He first got into trouble with the police at the age of 15.
► be up to no good if someone is up to no good , they are secretly doing something that they should not do - use this especially when you think someone may be doing something bad, but you are not completely sure: · She knew that her brother was up to no good but she didn't tell anyone.
► act up also play up British informal to behave badly by being very active and noisy - use this especially about children: · During his parents' divorce, Robert began acting up in class.· The kids have been playing up all afternoon. They're driving me mad.
► mess around also muck about British informal to behave in a silly way when you should be working or paying attention: · Stop messing around and pay attention!· They just mucked about all afternoon and went home early.mess around with: · Paul blew off his fingers messing around with homemade rockets.
► try it on British informal to behave badly in order to find out how bad you can be before someone gets angry with you or punishes you: · For your first few days' teaching, the kids will probably try it on just to see how you react.· At home she's allowed to tell everyone what to do, but she wouldn't dare try it on at work.
► step out of line to behave badly by breaking rules or disobeying orders, especially in a situation where everyone is expected to be very obedient: · The prisoners were warned that if they stepped out of line they would be severely punished.· The boss is very tough on anyone who steps out of line.
WORD FAMILYnounbehaviour/behaviormisbehaviour/misbehaviorbehaviourism/behaviorismbehaviourist/behavioristverbbehavemisbehaveadjectivebehavioural/behavioraladverbbehaviourally/behaviorally
(also misbehave yourself) to behave badly, and cause trouble or annoy people OPP behave: George has been misbehaving at school. Students have a tendency to misbehave themselves at exam time.