Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of overact
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
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
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overact
Verb
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Sometimes the functional sibling learns to compensate or cover for the dysfunctional one, to underplay strengths or wear a mask.—
Christine Smallwood,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Mar. 2026
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Others say such comments underplay the consequences of the oil blockade.—
Kate Linthicum,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Lue has tried to stagger their minutes to not overplay them.—
Janis Carr,
Oc Register,
22 Mar. 2026
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One of the dangers with this particular title is that actors overplay, thinking that the show-within-a-show and period style offer some license in that direction.—
Chris Jones,
Chicago Tribune,
18 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The $20 million construction of Independence Elementary was funded through Idaho House Bill 521, a statewide school facilities package enacted in 2024.—
Noah Daly,
Idaho Statesman,
30 Mar. 2026
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That suspension, which was also enacted after the shooting of the National Guard soldiers in Washington, remains in place.—
Camilo Montoya-Galvez,
CBS News,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Mia is really acting out her character and has butt pads so lumpy that Michelle Visage got up off her couch to come over to the Hamptons to yell at her.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
25 Mar. 2026
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But gaslighters don't necessarily act out of pure malice, Sweet says.—
Emma Bowman,
NPR,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The gulls weren’t directly imitating the act of eating.—
Samantha Agate,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
30 Mar. 2026
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The gulls weren’t imitating human eating directly but were using the human’s choice as a cue to guide their own foraging decisions.—
Samantha Agate,
Miami Herald,
30 Mar. 2026
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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With Trump back in office, American audiences are understandably more closely watching films from distant lands that dramatize authoritarianism, seeking clues from those nations’ past to understand our present.—
Tim Grierson,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Mar. 2026
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There was no contradiction for these women in using sacred imagery to dramatize erotic love, or Scripture to sanctify desire.—
Chandler Fritz,
The New York Review of Books,
21 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Scenic designer Matthew Herman created a rectangular center stage with LED panel lighting by Sammy Webster that mimics the flourescent office lights of the past but explodes with color in a surprise dancing-on-the-tables scene.—
Pam Kragen,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
29 Mar. 2026
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In addition to structural problems, the sign will also be relit, possibly with LED lights designed to mimic the original neon.—
R. Christian Smith,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Overact.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overact. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.
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