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Definition of Overact
1. Verb. Exaggerate one's acting.
Category relationships: Dramatic Art, Dramatics, Dramaturgy, Theater, Theatre
Generic synonyms: Act, Play, Playact, Roleplay
Derivative terms: Ham, Hamming, Overacting
Antonyms: Underact
Definition of Overact
1. v. t. To act or perform to excess; to exaggerate in acting; as, he overacted his part.
2. v. i. To act more than is necessary; to go to excess in action.
Definition of Overact
1. Verb. (context: performing arts) To act in an exaggerated manner. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Overact
1. to act with exaggeration [v -ED, -ING, -S]
Lexicographical Neighbors of Overact
Literary usage of Overact
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. The Church History of Britain: From the Birth of Jesus Christ Until the Year by Thomas Fuller, John Sherren Brewer (1845)
"... overact their parts, espe- '. dally in such dangerous and discontented times.
Yea, they suspected, lest those who formerly had outrun the canons with ..."
2. A Dictionary of Chemistry: In which the Principles of the Science are by Andrew Ure (1827)
"Many scales are often made this way, and will overact with any considerable 5.
If the fulcrum be above the line joining the points of suspension, ..."
3. A Dictionary of the English Language by Samuel Johnson, John Walker, Robert S. Jameson (1828)
"7» overact, (o-ver-akt') sa To act more than enough. To .overact, (o-ver-akt') ».
n. To act more than is requisite. ..."
4. Nervous and mental diseases by Archibald Church, Frederick Peterson (1899)
"As the face recovers, in every instance the paretic side is likely to overact
for all moderate voluntary bilateral movements. ..."
5. Chambers's Etymological Dictionary of the English Language by James Donald, William Chambers (1878)
"overact, o-ver-akt', vt, to act over-much or to excess. ... too much. overdone,
o-yer-dun', adj., too much done; overact«! ; fatigued : cooked too much. ..."
6. Elements of Rhetoric and Literary Criticism: With Copious Practical by James Robert Boyd (1852)
"Inactive youth will be followed by profitless old age. Virtue concealed is
inactivity at best. You overact when you should underdo. ..."
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