histrionic

[ his-tree-on-ik ]

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

/ ˌhɪstrɪˈɒnɪk /

adjective

1. excessively dramatic, insincere, or artificial

   histrionic gestures

2. rare.
   dramatic

noun

1. plural melodramatic displays of temperament
2. rare.
   plural, functioning as singular dramatics

Derived Forms

• ˌhistriˈonically, adverb

Other Words From

• histri·oni·cal·ly adverb
• nonhis·tri·onic adjective
• nonhis·tri·oni·cal adjective
• nonhis·tri·oni·cal·ly adverb
• nonhis·tri·oni·cal·ness noun
• unhis·tri·onic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of histrionic¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of histrionic¹

C17: from Late Latin histriōnicus of a player, from histriō actor

Example Sentences

Pelosi, in turn, said the committee’s work was too important to be derailed by showmanship and histrionics.

From Time

There’s an expectation that the actor who’s allowed to be histrionic and demanding, or the writer who’s allowed to be oversharing and impassioned, will ultimately create better art.

From Vox

If there’s a point to this exercise, it gets lost amid so many histrionic reenactments of scenes we’ve seen replayed on the news and parodied in late-night comedy for more than two decades.

From Time

While King’s narrative romanticizes the relationship between mental illness and creativity, Larraín’s histrionic direction often reduces these elements to camp.

From Time

We get an amusingly histrionic psychological thriller from Plaza and a clever Ronald Reagan pastiche from Duplass and actor-producer Ethan Sandler.

From Time

The moral duties and doubts of adulthood are swapped out for the histrionic creeds of adolescence.

From The Daily Beast

Silver Linings Playbook allowed her to explode, playing a woman unhinged, histrionic, and emotionally volatile.

From The Daily Beast

Wall Street Journal editorial-page writer Dorothy Rabinowitz recorded a histrionic anti-bike video that went viral.

From The Daily Beast

Such miscues mired the show in histrionic soapiness, upsetting the delicate balance between domestic drama and social change.

From The Daily Beast

In fact, The Newsroom seems to relish putting loud women in their place or to render them helpless and histrionic.

From The Daily Beast

This rare merit even the most fastidious critic must allow: but her histrionic essay is, in another respect, equally remarkable.

From Project Gutenberg

She has inherited the histrionic gift from her mother—from me.

From Project Gutenberg

Histrionic art always and everywhere suffers from the ephemeral conditions under which it has to be externalised.

From Project Gutenberg

In the midst of her histrionic triumphs, Mlle. Clairon continued her career of gallantry.

From Project Gutenberg

Here she trained a number of aspirants to histrionic fame, several of whom were destined to make their mark in years to come.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• flamboyant
• frenzied
• histrionical
• maudlin
• mawkish
• overemotional
• overwrought
• sensational
• sentimental
• stagy