hammy
1 Americanadjective
adjective
-
(of an actor) overacting or tending to overact
-
(of a play, performance, etc) overacted or exaggerated
Other Word Forms
- hammily adverb
- hamminess noun
Etymology
Origin of hammy1
First recorded in 1860–65; ham 1 + -y 1
Origin of hammy2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He’s not as unapologetically hammy as Andrew Polec’s Pirelli, the tonsorial con man who adopts a fake mustache and an even faker Italian accent, but he lends the musical a satiric gaiety.
From Los Angeles Times
But such compromises do not exist in the extreme and often hammy world of Mr. Tallent’s fiction.
Exactly 86 minutes after Wood was cleared following concerns over a hamstring injury, Australia's Josh Hazlewood was ruled out of Friday's first Test with a dodgy hammy of his own.
From BBC
Austin’s lush mustache and hammy Southern drawl aren’t quite in sync with the tone; Rudd seems stuck in the Ferrell version of the film.
From Los Angeles Times
Yet everything about his hammy manner suggests an old-fashioned thespian in love with the sound of his own voice and utterly oblivious to method psychology.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
