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Recent Examples of overact
One could easily be accused of overacting, of doing too much.
—
Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 20 Feb. 2025
There are few instances of someone overacting more in a movie, unnecessarily adding an undercurrent of murderous, jokey psychotic to an already bizarre creation.
—Mark Kennedy, Boston Herald, 13 Dec. 2024
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
In regard to overacting, Pacino addresses it on a case-by-case basis: Some movies call for it, like Scarface.
—Chris Stanton, Vulture, 21 Oct. 2024
The performances seems inspired by the over-the-top techniques of actors who tried to do too much when sound finally came to films, but were used to overacting.
—Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 25 Sep. 2024
Their turns are driven to cartoonish overacting in great part by the words they’ve been asked to say in English and in angry tones.
—Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 30 Aug. 2024
Meanwhile, Greenblatt’s playfully mischievous demeanor as Tina often reads as overacting.
—Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 9 Aug. 2024
The welcome lack of overacting is evident throughout the show.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 22 Apr. 2024
Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 20 Feb. 2025
There are few instances of someone overacting more in a movie, unnecessarily adding an undercurrent of murderous, jokey psychotic to an already bizarre creation.
—Mark Kennedy, Boston Herald, 13 Dec. 2024
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
In regard to overacting, Pacino addresses it on a case-by-case basis: Some movies call for it, like Scarface.
—Chris Stanton, Vulture, 21 Oct. 2024
The performances seems inspired by the over-the-top techniques of actors who tried to do too much when sound finally came to films, but were used to overacting.
—Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 25 Sep. 2024
Their turns are driven to cartoonish overacting in great part by the words they’ve been asked to say in English and in angry tones.
—Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 30 Aug. 2024
Meanwhile, Greenblatt’s playfully mischievous demeanor as Tina often reads as overacting.
—Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 9 Aug. 2024
The welcome lack of overacting is evident throughout the show.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 22 Apr. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overact
Verb
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To describe the United States’ military interventions as mishandled, for example, is to criminally underplay their impact.—
Emma Ashford,
Foreign Affairs,
29 May 2020
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And David Rosenberg subtly underplays Alex, an American ex-pat who’s haunted by ghosts of his own.—
Pam Kragen,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
14 Feb. 2025
Verb
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But the producers — irritatingly overplayed by Chuck McCann and Robert Staats, who regrettably seize the vast majority of screen time — aren’t really hoping to make a killing.—
Joe Leydon,
Variety,
5 Mar. 2025
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The need to continue developing faster and bigger networks may therefore be overplayed today.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
9 Feb. 2025
Verb
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But these efforts would be fruitless unless states enacted legislation exempting sports betting from their anti-gambling laws.—
Martin Edel,
Sportico.com,
7 Apr. 2025
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Market conditioned to rally We’ve been conditioned, since 1987, to expect market panics and crashes to be relatively short-lived and reversed by policy actions enacted by both the federal government and the Federal Reserve.—
Ron Insana,
CNBC,
7 Apr. 2025
Verb
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His days are spent either sitting sadly on Iris’ bed with literal hangdog eyes or acting out and destroying things in her apartment.—
Lindsey Bahr,
Twin Cities,
2 Apr. 2025
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But most small children eventually outgrow the impulse to act out.—
Daniel D'Addario,
Variety,
27 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Emmy-winning actor Paul Walter Hauser, the lead of game show drama The Luckiest Man in America, came close to life imitating art and being a contestant himself.—
Simon Thompson,
Forbes.com,
3 Apr. 2025
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The company uses data and AI learning to simulate attacks that go beyond just imitating an individual’s voice – like most modern sophisticated phishing attacks, the technology uses details about someone’s family, background, personality and more.—
Laya Neelakandan,
CNBC,
2 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Today, Margaret would be playacting her own massacre in active shooter drills at school.—
Petula Dvorak,
Washington Post,
1 May 2023
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Trump’s modus, as ever, was to playact; his game has always been improv.—
Joe Klein,
Washington Post,
12 Jan. 2023
Verb
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Unlike Molly, who's politely reticent and reluctant to speak up for herself, Nikki can't resist expressing her anger and sorrow—or, more precisely, dramatizing them for whatever audience of oncologists happens to be in range.—
Dory Jackson,
People.com,
4 Apr. 2025
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The network’s right to turn George and Tammy’s story into a TV show came from the First Amendment and from buying the rights to dramatize Georgette’s book.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
23 Mar. 2025
Verb
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However, for his role as legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow, Clooney picked up a bottle of hair dye to mimic the broadcaster’s look more accurately.—
Kara Nesvig,
Allure,
4 Apr. 2025
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Building artificial skin with room to grow The researchers initially sought to create a skin imitation that could accurately mimic the three layers in human skin: the epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis.—
Mack DeGeurin,
Popular Science,
3 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Overact.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overact. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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