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Showing results for histrionic. Search instead for histrion.
Synonyms

histrionic

American  
[his-tree-on-ik] / ˌhɪs triˈɒn ɪk /

adjective

  1. of or relating to actors or acting.

  2. deliberately affected or self-consciously emotional; overly dramatic, in behavior or speech.

noun

  1. an actor.

histrionic British  
/ ˌhɪstrɪˈɒnɪk /

adjective

  1. excessively dramatic, insincere, or artificial

    histrionic gestures

  2. rare dramatic

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. (plural) melodramatic displays of temperament

  2. rare (plural, functioning as singular) dramatics

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • histrionically adverb
  • nonhistrionic adjective
  • nonhistrionical adjective
  • nonhistrionically adverb
  • nonhistrionicalness noun
  • unhistrionic adjective

Etymology

Origin of histrionic

1640–50; < Late Latin histrōnicus of actors, equivalent to histriōn- (stem of histriō ) actor (said to be < Etruscan ) + -icus -ic

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.