1
as in theatrical
given to or marked by attention-getting behavior suggestive of stage acting
a penchant for dish throwing, door slamming, and other histrionic displays of temper
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in theatric
having the general quality or effect of a stage performance
we never tired of his histrionic reenactment of how he found money under the floorboards of a house he was renovating
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Recent Examples of histrionic
The most reliably entertaining are the dryly sardonic Yelena Belova (Pugh) and the excitable, histrionic Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (a showily outsized Harbour).
—
Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 1 May 2025
Tang Ren’s histrionic, oftentimes scatological behavior is offset by Qin Feng’s almost superhuman intuition, and director Chen Sicheng has repeatedly doffed his cap to the BBC’s hugely successful series Sherlock, not least in the vivid visualisations of Holmes’ deductive reasoning.
—James Marsh, Deadline, 31 Jan. 2025
As a piece of political rhetoric, the word has become numbingly histrionic.
—Jonathan Blitzer, The New Yorker, 24 Jan. 2025
This may sound like the setup for a histrionic sci-fi soap opera.
—Judy Berman, TIME, 17 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for histrionic
Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 1 May 2025
Tang Ren’s histrionic, oftentimes scatological behavior is offset by Qin Feng’s almost superhuman intuition, and director Chen Sicheng has repeatedly doffed his cap to the BBC’s hugely successful series Sherlock, not least in the vivid visualisations of Holmes’ deductive reasoning.
—James Marsh, Deadline, 31 Jan. 2025
As a piece of political rhetoric, the word has become numbingly histrionic.
—Jonathan Blitzer, The New Yorker, 24 Jan. 2025
This may sound like the setup for a histrionic sci-fi soap opera.
—Judy Berman, TIME, 17 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for histrionic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for histrionic
Adjective
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The idea is to make the merchandise available in tandem with its theatrical debut, or else later, as an additional marketing vector when the project streams or releases on physical media.—
Gary Baum,
HollywoodReporter,
25 Sep. 2025
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Wahlberg plays a holy fool in Boogie Nights, our naïve but well-endowed guide through the heyday of theatrical pornography and its decline into something cheaper and tawdrier courtesy of the triumph of VHS.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
25 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Video footage captured the dramatic moment a huge sinkhole opened up along a busy road in front of a hospital in Bangkok on Wednesday.—
Shane Croucher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Sep. 2025
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As for her footwear, Taylor went with dramatic platforms in a shade of military green, featuring silver mary jane-style buckles and laces running down the front.—
Julia Teti,
Footwear News,
24 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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But any lyrical intensity is undercut, to say the least, by the playfulness of Mercury’s vocals and the gleefully absurd operatic bits.—
Brian Hiatt,
Rolling Stone,
24 Sep. 2025
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If Andrea Bocelli only laid claim to being the world’s most popular operatic voice, that would be reason enough for a documentary.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
24 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Histrionic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/histrionic. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
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