overact

English

Etymology

Verb

overact (third-person singular simple present overacts, present participle overacting, simple past and past participle overacted)

(acting) To act in an exaggerated manner.
He overacted his part.
(obsolete, transitive) To act upon, or influence, unduly.
- (Can we date this quote?) John Milton
  The hope of inheritance overacts them.

Synonyms

chew the scenery, ham, ham it up, melodramatize, tear a cat

Derived terms

overactor

Translations

act in an exaggerated manner

Dutch: overacteren (nl)
German: übertrieben spielen, übertreiben (de)

Portuguese: exagerar (pt)
Russian: переигрывать (ru) (pereigryvatʹ)

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