hammed up
Performed with excess
Hammed up describes a performance delivered with exaggerated, theatrical flair—overacting for effect.
The phrase comes from ham, slang for an actor who overdoes it.
Something hammed up may be deliberately campy or unintentionally excessive: The villain's death scene was completely hammed up.
To ham it up is the verb form.
- exaggerateOverstate beyond truth
- overactingExcessive theatrical performance
- attention-seekingCraving others' focus
- flamboyanceShowy, confident style
- melodramaSensational, emotionally overwrought drama
theatrics · grandstanding · playing to the gallery · embellishment · dramatization · mugging · milking it · laying it on thick · burlesque · pantomime · parody · showmanship · stealing the scene · scenery-chewing · ostentation · caricature · slapstick · flourish
hammed upunderstated
Deliberately minimized in expression
subtle · restrained · subdued · muted · toned down
hammed upnaturalistic
Imitating actual appearance
unaffected · genuine · authentic · sincere · artless