OVERACTING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does overacting mean? 

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

1. poor acting by a ham actor

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

 Dictionary entry details 

• OVERACTING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Poor acting by a ham actor

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

hamming; overacting

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

acting; performing; playacting; playing (the performance of a part or role in a drama)

Derivation:

overact (exaggerate one's acting)

 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)