overact
Chew the scenery
To overact is to perform with excessive emotion or exaggerated gestures, beyond what the role or situation calls for.
The term applies mostly to theatrical or film performances: The villain overacted so badly the audience laughed.
It can extend to everyday behavior that seems theatrical or melodramatic: She overacted her disappointment to make us feel guilty.
Excessively theatrical in style
- ham it upPerform with exaggerated theatrics
- scene-stealingOutperforming others onstage
- grandstandingPerforming to impress onlookers
- showboatingOstentatious self-display
melodramatic · histrionic · theatrical · stagy · campy · bombastic · flamboyant · scenery-chewing
Emphasize excessively
- overdramatizeExaggerate emotional significance
- overdoExceed reasonable limits
- hamCured pig thigh
- mugHandled cup for beverages
emote · milk · lay it on thick · over-the-top · excess · embellish · amplify · overstate
Made to occur unwillingly
- artificialMade, not natural
- contrivedDeliberately manufactured, unnatural
- strainedUnder uncomfortable tension
- stiltedUnnaturally formal in expression
unnatural · unconvincing · insincere · wooden · affected · mannered · phony · fake
Exaggerated theatrical performance
- slapstickExaggerated physical humor
- muggingRobbery with violence
- buffooneryLudicrous or silly conduct
- clowningPlayful comic behavior
shtick · vaudeville · burlesque · farce · camp · parody · caricature · broad comedy
hammy
Excessively theatrical in style
- ham it upPerform with exaggerated theatrics
- scene-stealingOutperforming others onstage
- grandstandingPerforming to impress onlookers
showboating · melodramatic · histrionic · theatrical · stagy · campy · bombastic · flamboyant · scenery-chewing · playing to the gallery
overplay
Emphasize excessively
- overdramatizeExaggerate emotional significance
- overdoExceed reasonable limits
- hamCured pig thigh
mug · emote · milk · lay it on thick · over-the-top · excess · embellish · amplify · overstate · hyperbolize
forced
Made to occur unwillingly
- artificialMade, not natural
- contrivedDeliberately manufactured, unnatural
- strainedUnder uncomfortable tension
stilted · unnatural · unconvincing · insincere · wooden · affected · mannered · phony · fake · put-on
hamming
Exaggerated theatrical performance
- slapstickExaggerated physical humor
- muggingRobbery with violence
- buffooneryLudicrous or silly conduct
clowning · shtick · vaudeville · burlesque · farce · camp · parody · caricature · broad comedy · physical comedy
- lay it on thickexaggerate, overstate, embellish, ham it up, dramatize
- excessexcess, too much, excessive, excessiveness, overabundance
- pretendingpretend, pretending, fake, feign, make-believe
- showing offboasting, bragged, show off, bragging, boasted
overactunderact
Perform with insufficient expression
underplay · understate · hold back · tone it down · dial it back
- overactive bladderUrinary urgency condition
overacting, overactive, overactivity, overacted, overaction, overacts