| English Dictionary |
OVERACT
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does overact mean?
• OVERACT (verb)
The verb OVERACT has 1 sense:
1. exaggerate one's acting
Familiarity information: OVERACT used as a verb is very rare.
Dictionary entry details
| Conjugation: |
... he / she / it overacts Past simple: overacted
Past participle: overacted
-ing form: overacting
Sense 1
Meaning:
Exaggerate one's acting
Classified under:
Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing
Synonyms:
ham; ham it up; overact; overplay
Hypernyms (to "overact" is one way to...):
act; play; playact; roleplay (perform on a stage or theater)
Domain category:
dramatic art; dramatics; dramaturgy; theater; theatre (the art of writing and producing plays)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Antonym:
underact (act (a role) with great restraint)
Derivation:
overacting (poor acting by a ham actor)
Context examples
She feared she had been doing wrong: saying too much, overacting the caution which she had been fancying necessary; in guarding against one evil, laying herself open to another; and to have Miss Crawford's liveliness repeated to her at such a moment, and on such a subject, was a bitter aggravation.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
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