ham it up
idiom
informal
: to act or behave in an exaggerated or playful way
She likes to ham it up for the camera.
Examples of ham it up in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Zehetner and Van Holt’s teaming is defeated by poor writing, while those playing villainous roles are given way too much leeway to ham it up.
—
Dennis Harvey, Variety, 1 July 2024
Like many of the other performances on this list, when the legend is better than the truth, ham it up.
—Tim Moffatt, EW.com, 20 May 2024
With brief screen time for a cameo, Jason Momoa manages to both ham it up and show off some impressive combat skills, slinging extraterrestrial guns, swinging the character’s gold cape and delivering inspiring speeches with panache.
—Jack Smart, Peoplemag, 3 May 2024
Jeffrey Wright gets to ham it up almost too gleefully as villainous congressman, Adam Clayton Powell.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 4 Sep. 2023
See all Example Sentences for ham it up 
Dennis Harvey, Variety, 1 July 2024
Like many of the other performances on this list, when the legend is better than the truth, ham it up.
—Tim Moffatt, EW.com, 20 May 2024
With brief screen time for a cameo, Jason Momoa manages to both ham it up and show off some impressive combat skills, slinging extraterrestrial guns, swinging the character’s gold cape and delivering inspiring speeches with panache.
—Jack Smart, Peoplemag, 3 May 2024
Jeffrey Wright gets to ham it up almost too gleefully as villainous congressman, Adam Clayton Powell.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 4 Sep. 2023
See all Example Sentences for ham it up
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ham it up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Ham it up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ham%20it%20up. Accessed 26 Jul. 2024.
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