Clean Up Your Act

Meaning of Idiom ‘Clean Up Your (or one’s) Act’

To clean up your (his/her) act means to improve your behavior and begin acting in a more acceptable way. ¹Heacock, Paul. Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2010.,²Ayto, John. Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms. Oxford: Oxford U, 2010.

Usage

“I got back together with Anthony,” said Laura. “He’s not drinking and I think he’s really cleaned up his act.”

“You’ll have to clean up your act if you expect to keep living here,” said the landlady.

“I used to have a gambling problem, but I cleaned up my act,” said Tom.

Origin

c. 1900 ³Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.

Clean, in this expression, refers figuratively to putting things in proper order and act refers to one’s outward behavior or lifestyle, alluding to the act of a stage performer.

More Idioms Starting with C

• Curtains for Someone (or Something)
• Close But No Cigar
• Chime In
• Cry Me a River
• Cool As a Cucumber

More Act Idioms

• Get Your Act Together
• Act Up
• Act of God, an

More Clean Idioms

• Clean Bill of Health
• Spick and Span
• Clean as a Whistle
• Clean as a Hound’s Tooth

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