behaved

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of behave.

   The dog behaved calmly throughout the long car ride.

   He behaved as though nothing unusual had taken place.

   Note

   One spelling covers both jobs: she behaved (past) and she has behaved (perfect, with have). Without an adverb, behaved can mean acted properly, as in the children behaved. An adverb of manner opens it to any conduct: behaved badly, behaved oddly. The reflexive behaved himself carries the approving sense. An older use, now obsolete, took a direct object and meant managed or conducted something.

2. 2
   adjectivein compounds

   Showing a particular kind of conduct, as indicated by an accompanying word such as well or badly.

   A well-behaved crowd filled the stadium without a single incident.

   The badly-behaved guests were asked to leave before dessert.

   Note

   The adjective almost never works alone. An adverb in front supplies the meaning, as in a rudely-behaved child or a well-behaved crowd. Before a noun the pair is usually hyphenated, and after a verb it is often left open (the crowd was well behaved). Many editors drop the hyphen after an -ly adverb and write rudely behaved, though the hyphenated form is common. It is the past participle settled into an adjective.

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