histrionic
[his-tree-on-ik]
- of or relating to actors or acting.
- deliberately affected or self-consciously emotional; overly dramatic, in behavior or speech.
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- an actor.
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Origin of histrionic
1640–50; < Late Latin histrōnicus of actors, equivalent to histriōn- (stem of histriō) actor (said to be < Etruscan) + -icus -ic
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for histrionic
Contemporary Examples
The moral duties and doubts of adulthood are swapped out for the histrionic creeds of adolescence.
Silver Linings Playbook allowed her to explode, playing a woman unhinged, histrionic, and emotionally volatile.
How Jennifer Lawrence Took Over Hollywood. (It’s Not Just Because of Her Charm.)Kevin Fallon
December 20, 2013
Wall Street Journal editorial-page writer Dorothy Rabinowitz recorded a histrionic anti-bike video that went viral.
Such miscues mired the show in histrionic soapiness, upsetting the delicate balance between domestic drama and social change.
In fact, The Newsroom seems to relish putting loud women in their place or to render them helpless and histrionic.
Historical Examples
To the Roman, the scenic and histrionic were the vital features of a production.
The Dramatic Values in PlautusWilton Wallace Blancke
Again no suggestion of the histrionic in the passionate voice.
A Breath of Prairie and other storiesWill Lillibridge
The country host had always been a patron of the histrionic art.
The StrollersFrederic S. Isham
She has inherited the histrionic gift from her mother—from me.
QuinAlice Hegan Rice
His histrionic abilities were displayed at the Eglinton tournament.
Napoleon the LittleVictor Hugo
histrionic
histrionical
- excessively dramatic, insincere, or artificialhistrionic gestures
- rare dramatic
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- (plural) melodramatic displays of temperament
- rare (plural, functioning as singular) dramatics
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Word Origin
C17: from Late Latin histriōnicus of a player, from histriō actor
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
Word Origin and History for histrionic
adj.
"theatrical" (figuratively, "hypocritical"), 1640s, from Latin histrionicus "pertaining to an actor," from histrio (genitive histrionis) "actor," said to be of Etruscan origin. The literal sense in English is from 1759.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper