histrionics

[ his-tree-on-iks ]

noun(used with a singular or plural verb)

dramatic representation; theatricals; acting.
behavior or speech for effect, as insincere or exaggerated expression of an emotion; dramatics; operatics: Cut out the histrionics—we know you're not really mad.

Origin of histrionics

First recorded in 1860–65; see origin at histrionic, -ics

But the histrionics in that caucus are simply a prelude to an ultimate cave.
A Debt Deal Won’t Save Us | Daniel Gross | October 15, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Their histrionics were more appropriate for a bad episode of Law & Order.
Trayvon Was Black. It Matters. | Mark Geragos | July 15, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Such a slow set-up was typical: no crash-bang corpse-on-first-page histrionics.
True Grit: Ross Macdonald Gets His Due | Malcolm Forbes | August 7, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
We say should because only you, and your histrionics, stand in the way.
The Stars Predict Your Week | Starsky + Cox | October 9, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
The histrionics continued as he got out of the car, went into makeup and sat down to talk to Ted Koppel.
An American in Full | Jonathan Alter | December 14, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST

He would wish to know what it was supposed to be, like Nash's histrionics.
The Tragic Muse | Henry James
Mary continued without giving much attention to these histrionics.
Within the Law | Marvin Dana
At such times she astonished him by taking his most solemn histrionics with flippant incredulity, and even burlesquing them.
The March Family Trilogy, Complete | William Dean Howells
He saw the humour of the comedy he was acting, and dispassionately approved himself, because he did not give way to histrionics.
The Hero | William Somerset Maugham
Are you about to turn actor, and do you trust to her for instruction in histrionics?
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 62, No. 384, October 1847 | Various

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