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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
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
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overact
Verb
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China rejects this view and has blasted Taipei for underplaying the role of Chinese Communists in defeating Imperial Japan.—
Jan Camenzind Broomby,
NPR,
2 Sep. 2025
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Bader gives a sharp, subtle performance, underplaying in scenes where even an experienced actor might chomp down.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
1 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Advertisement China might overplay its hand—that remains a real danger.—
Kerry Brown,
Time,
31 Oct. 2025
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But Barkley suggested the players should be careful to not overplay their hand.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
10 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Any plan for dividend checks would likely require new legislation passed by Congress, but no solid plans have been enacted.—
Marina Johnson,
Louisville Courier Journal,
6 Jan. 2026
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Now, Loogootee has enacted another special events policy that mirrors several measures in the one that the court struck down.—
Cate Charron,
IndyStar,
6 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Others abused alcohol and drugs, were separated and divorced, or acted out violently.—
Arianna Huffington,
Fortune,
6 Nov. 2025
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As the five-year case unfolded, Betty continually lost court battles and continued to act out.—
Alex Gurley,
PEOPLE,
5 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Art imitating life a little bit.—
Senior Editor,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
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That work led to the Multisensory Correlation Detector (MCD), which could imitate human responses to simple audiovisual patterns like flashes and clicks.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
4 Nov. 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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Trixie advises Alma to playact highness to flummox E.B.—
Matt Zoller Seitz,
Vulture,
18 Dec. 2021
Verb
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And to dramatize how easily the past repeats itself.—
Seth Abramovitch,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Nov. 2025
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Panahi followed suit with his first feature-length film, The White Balloon, using a pair of siblings trying to find a goldfish for their Nowruz, or New Year, celebration to dramatize economic hardship.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
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An onboard synthesizer manipulates a small set of core sounds to mimic everything from the roar of a jet plane to the flushing of a toilet through a little speaker in the Brick.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
6 Jan. 2026
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The brand also offers its own line of long-lasting polish that, when paired with its Magic Finish Top Coat, mimics the appearance and wearability of gel polish without having to use a UV lamp.—
Kaleigh Werner,
Footwear News,
6 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Overact.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overact. Accessed 8 Jan. 2026.
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