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
That secret shakes Charlie’s love for his intended, messes with work, affects his performance in bed and prompts him to spiral out, overacting at every step.
—
Mark Kennedy, Boston Herald, 2 Apr. 2026
Adrien Brody can’t stop overacting in a commercial for TurboTax.
—Dee-Ann Durbin, Fortune, 8 Feb. 2026
On-screen, the speech’s prestige can overwhelm its existential subject matter, and the passage tends to get overacted.
—Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 15 Dec. 2025
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
Mark Kennedy, Boston Herald, 2 Apr. 2026
Adrien Brody can’t stop overacting in a commercial for TurboTax.
—Dee-Ann Durbin, Fortune, 8 Feb. 2026
On-screen, the speech’s prestige can overwhelm its existential subject matter, and the passage tends to get overacted.
—Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 15 Dec. 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overact
Verb
-
YouTube as the new film school, YouTube as the new film festival, YouTube as the new music-video breeding ground — is to dramatically underplay it.—
Steven Zeitchik,
HollywoodReporter,
31 May 2026
-
However, because the artists were not of Mexican descent, Chicano music histories often overlook or underplay this era.—
Oliver Wang,
Los Angeles Times,
4 May 2026
Verb
-
The lack of Hollywood has possibly been overplayed, anyway.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
12 May 2026
-
Lue has tried to stagger their minutes to not overplay them.—
Janis Carr,
Oc Register,
22 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
That coming Fall of 2020, universal masking in schools and daycares was recommended by the CDC and widespread mandates were enacted at the state, district and county levels for children as young as two.—
Ian Miller OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
1 June 2026
-
Instead, the measure freezes corporate net operating loss and enacts taxes on social media companies, digital assets, fantasy sports, tobacco and sports betting on prediction market websites.—
Lauren Victory,
CBS News,
1 June 2026
Verb
-
This is one of the earliest indicators of emotional intelligence because feelings with names become feelings that can be processed instead of acted out.—
Reem Raouda,
CNBC,
31 May 2026
-
Our workshop acted out parts of Shange’s text on the first day of a spring semester class in 2010.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 May 2026
Verb
-
In a case of life imitating art, this whodunnit explores the investigation behind her disappearance, strangely resembling one of Christie’s own novels, where everyone in her life becomes a suspect, including her brother, Monty (Trevena).—
Alex Ritman,
Variety,
1 June 2026
-
Naturalistic plantings like these use large swaths of the same plants to imitate a natural setting.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
1 June 2026
Verb
-
Today, Margaret would be playacting her own massacre in active shooter drills at school.—
Petula Dvorak,
Washington Post,
1 May 2023
-
Trixie advises Alma to playact highness to flummox E.B.—
Matt Zoller Seitz,
Vulture,
18 Dec. 2021
Verb
-
The basic themes of Hearst’s life and the novels that dramatize it remain distressingly relevant.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
21 May 2026
-
The seemingly limitless budgets and bottomless demand for content of the streaming television era have allowed studios to dramatize both long-ago and recent disasters.—
David Faris,
TheWeek,
14 May 2026
Verb
-
The layout tries to mimic a corporate notice.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
31 May 2026
-
Brown, tan, beige, and terra-cotta mimic the desert and prairie landscapes.—
Elle Turner,
Glamour,
31 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Overact.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overact. Accessed 6 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
