PLAYACTING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does playacting mean? 

• PLAYACTING (noun)
  The noun PLAYACTING has 1 sense:

1. the performance of a part or role in a drama

  Familiarity information: PLAYACTING used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PLAYACTING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The performance of a part or role in a drama

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

acting; performing; playacting; playing

Hypernyms ("playacting" is a kind of...):

activity (any specific behavior)

performing arts (arts or skills that require public performance)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "playacting"):

characterization; enactment; personation; portrayal (acting the part of a character on stage; dramatically representing the character by speech and action and gesture)

impersonation; personation (imitating the mannerisms of another person)

method; method acting (an acting technique introduced by Stanislavsky in which the actor recalls emotions or reactions from his or her own life and uses them to identify with the character being portrayed)

dumb show; mime; pantomime (a performance using gestures and body movements without words)

business; byplay; stage business (incidental activity performed by an actor for dramatic effect)

skit (a short theatrical episode)

hamming; overacting (poor acting by a ham actor)

heroics (ostentatious or vainglorious or extravagant or melodramatic conduct)

reenactment (performing a role in an event that occurred at an earlier time)

roleplaying (acting a particular role (as in psychotherapy))

Holonyms ("playacting" is a part of...):

performance (the act of presenting a play or a piece of music or other entertainment)

Derivation:

playact (perform on a stage or theater)