overact

Definition of overactnext

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of overact Snook and Lacy, who display such sharp instincts in their best work, seem to have been directed to overact; cameras freeze on their exaggeratedly bewildered or angry or devastated expressions, putting exclamation points at the end of too many scenes. Judy Berman, Time, 6 Nov. 2025 His presence is fresh, empathetic, often hypnotic, and never overacted. Christian Blauvelt, IndieWire, 24 Oct. 2025 One could easily be accused of overacting, of doing too much. Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 20 Feb. 2025 The college student performers from the Hartt School aren’t encouraged to overact during the party scene anymore — no more drunk jokes or pratfalls. Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 11 Dec. 2024 See All Example Sentences for overact
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overact
Verb
  • On the other hand, its artistic approach and wider story arc underplay the horror of WW1 combat.
    Matt Gardner, Forbes.com, 17 July 2026
  • In a lot of ways, Abrams’ underplay show at the storied club, billed as a free evening with the star, was more than just a celebration of her new album Daughter From Hell or practice for her upcoming tour.
    Maya Georgi, Rolling Stone, 15 July 2026
Verb
  • Last season, Vítek Vaněček struggled in that role, which led the Mammoth to overplay Vejmelka for the second straight season.
    Jesse Granger, New York Times, 25 June 2026
  • Campaigners, meanwhile, don’t want to overplay their hands.
    Clayton Davis, Variety, 13 June 2026
Verb
  • Jim Zouras, a Chicago attorney who’s represented people in hundreds of Illinois privacy lawsuits, said the state has constructed many new data centers since enacting its privacy laws.
    John Lippert, Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2026
  • After the 2023 mall shooting, Anutin, who was interior minister at the time, enacted a one-year ban on the issue of new personal gun licenses and suspended public carry permits, among other gun control measures.
    Nat Sumon, NBC news, 7 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Artist Caroline and her daughter Lila are both haunted by what seems like an interior voice, one that encourages them to act out in ways that will draw the Cur’s attention.
    Hannah Whitten, PEOPLE, 4 Aug. 2026
  • During one scene, Einbinder — dressed in a replica of a black dress Gyllenhaal wore in the original film — acted out an explicit orgasm as described in the script, breaking character in the middle of the scene to double over laughing.
    Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 29 July 2026
Verb
  • When her mother brought home a Boswell Sisters record, a young Ella Fitzgerald spent hours imitating the group’s front woman, Connee Boswell, in an effort to learn to sing.
    Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2026
  • See, for instance, the song the women of the cast performed imitating the fervor for him.
    Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 4 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Today, Margaret would be playacting her own massacre in active shooter drills at school.
    Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 1 May 2023
  • Trump’s modus, as ever, was to playact; his game has always been improv.
    Joe Klein, Washington Post, 12 Jan. 2023
Verb
  • The Trial of Louise Woodward will dramatize the story of Woodward, an 18-year-old British au pair who in 1997 was accused of shaking to death a baby who was left in her care by her host family in Massachusetts.
    Rick Porter, HollywoodReporter, 30 July 2026
  • Two teenagers, aided by an arborist, climbed a 100-foot pine tree outside a Pasadena high school Saturday to dramatize a campaign to stop a soil remediation project calling for the removal of nearly 200 trees at several school campuses.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 19 July 2026
Verb
  • As with that of the previous Roma Spider, the soft-top roof is made of five layers of cloth and mimics the silhouette of the coupe’s roofline.
    Howard Walker, Robb Report, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Cases in children are increasingly common because the products are packaged to mimic familiar candy and snack brands.
    Jesse M. Pines, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2026

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Overact.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overact. Accessed 11 Aug. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!