underacts
Delivers muted performance
Underacts is the third-person singular of underact, meaning to perform with insufficient energy or emotional intensity.
An actor who underacts delivers lines too flatly or fails to convey the dramatic weight a scene requires: She underacts the death scene so badly it feels like she's reading a grocery list.
The opposite of overacting, though both suggest poor calibration to the material.
Deliberately de-emphasizes something
- underperformsFails to meet expectations
- underwhelmsFails to meet expectations
- woodenMade from timber
- stiffNot easily bent
flat · monotone · uninspired · inexpressive · emotionless · restrained · muted · subtle
Reduces to smallest extent
- soft-pedalsDeliberately minimizes significance
- downplaysDe-emphasizes significance of
- underemphasizesGives too little stress
- de-emphasizesReduces focus on
tempers · moderates · restrains · suppresses · contains · checks · curbs · mutes
Becoming unsteady or weak
- ineffectiveLacking power to achieve
- unpersuasiveFailing to convince
- unbelievableImpossible to accept as true
- implausibleUnlikely to be true
feeble · lackluster · weak · half-hearted · tentative · hesitant · amateurish · unimpressive
underplays
Deliberately de-emphasizes something
- underperformsFails to meet expectations
- underwhelmsFails to meet expectations
- woodenMade from timber
stiff · flat · monotone · uninspired · inexpressive · emotionless · restrained · muted · subtle · low-key
minimizes
Reduces to smallest extent
- soft-pedalsDeliberately minimizes significance
- downplaysDe-emphasizes significance of
- underemphasizesGives too little stress
de-emphasizes · tempers · moderates · restrains · suppresses · contains · checks · curbs · mutes · dampens
faltering
Becoming unsteady or weak
- ineffectiveLacking power to achieve
- unpersuasiveFailing to convince
- unbelievableImpossible to accept as true
implausible · feeble · lackluster · weak · half-hearted · tentative · hesitant · amateurish · unimpressive · forgettable
- underactive thyroidInsufficient hormone production condition
underachiever, underachievement, underactive, underact, underacted, underacting, underactivity