Ham It Up (Verb)
Meaning
Exaggerate one's acting.
Classification
Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing.
Examples
- The high school drama club encouraged the students to ham it up for the comedic scenes in the play.
- She was a talented actress, but in this role, she seemed to ham it up rather than deliver a sincere performance.
- When the camera zoomed in on his face, he started to ham it up, hoping to get more screen time.
- Since his character was over-the-top, he was asked to ham it up even more for comedic effect.
- During the dress rehearsal, the director told the lead actor to dial it back and stop hamming it up.