the art or technique of portraying a character, mood, idea, or narration by gestures and bodily movements; pantomime.
an actor who specializes in this art.
an ancient Greek or Roman farce that depended for effect largely upon ludicrous actions and gestures.
a player in such a farce.
a jester, clown, or comedian.
to mimic.
to act in mime.
the theatrical technique of expressing an idea or mood or portraying a character entirely by gesture and bodily movement without the use of words
Also called: mime artist. a performer specializing in such a technique, esp a comic actor
a dramatic presentation using such a technique
a comic performance depending for effect largely on exaggerated gesture and physical action
an actor in such a performance
to express (an idea) in actions or gestures without speech
(of singers or musicians) to perform as if singing (a song) or playing (a piece of music) that is actually prerecorded
1610–20; < Latin mīmus < Greek mîmos imitator, mime, akin to mīmeîsthai to copy, imitate
A mime is a performer who uses exaggerated facial expressions and body movements — instead of words — to communicate with his audience. You may have seen a mime pretending she's trapped in an invisible box, using gestures to make it appear that she is pushing against walls and a ceiling. Many mimes also wear clown-like makeup, wear simple clothing, and refuse to speak. You can use the word mime as a verb as well, to describe what you do when you imitate your least favorite teacher for the amusement of your friends. The Greek root word is mimos, "imitator, actor, or buffoon."
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
During live shoots, however, background actors stay silent and mime their conversations, “a skill set in and of itself,” Gemmill says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
Littler then proceeded to miss two more match darts of his own, and then made a 'cry-baby' mime to the crowd.
From BBC ● Apr. 2, 2026
He rates a podcaster below “movies, TV, recording artist, radio personality, mime and organ grinder monkey.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2024
Maybe that mime on the beach who nearly drowned.
From Salon ● Mar. 14, 2024
I point to his canteen, and with my hand I mime the drinking motion.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
He fidgets with a pair of eyeglasses and points a knobby index finger to underscore a point, jiggles his leg restlessly and, at one point, mimes playing guitar.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
She closes her eyes and mimes her head hitting a pillow.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2025
Bogotá’s unorthodox mayor, Antanas Mockus—who rose to fame after mooning student protesters and deployed mimes to control traffic—viewed the activity as a gambit “to achieve self-regulation in the behavior among citizens.”
From Slate ● Dec. 22, 2024
Others dressed as mimes with frowns painted on their faces.
From Seattle Times ● May 1, 2024
Unlike Western cities, Tiwanaku had no markets—no bazaars full of shouting, bargaining, conniving entrepreneurs; no street displays of produce, pottery, and plonk; no jugglers and mimes trying to attract crowds; no pickpockets.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
One audience member closed her eyes and mimed conducting as the artists played Mozart, while another tapped her caregiver's arm as if there were piano keys.
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
He mimed falling asleep at the question and said he hadn’t heard about it.
From Salon ● Mar. 18, 2026
After a couple of successful kicks, Matsuzawa even mimed a swing from another spectacular Japanese athlete who wears No. 17: Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 19, 2025
He pretended his group were teenagers from Chester, who mimed along to the video for the song.
From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2025
I saw the cell phone on Dr. Fiona’s belt and signaled to her that I wanted it—I mimed dialing on my palm, then brought the “phone” to my ear.
From "Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Changed the World" by Malala Yousafzai
Pop duo Milli Vanilli were stripped of their Grammy Award for best new artist in 1990, when it was discovered that the members, Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus, had been miming to someone else's vocals.
From BBC ● Jan. 31, 2026
Alicia Washington’s direction was clear, though she was understandably flummoxed about how to stage musician characters who don’t play their instruments and resorted to miming and posing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 9, 2025
Ward lobbed one up for receiver Kyle Williams, who beat cornerback Travis Hunter so thoroughly that he immediately held up his wrist, miming CU quarterback Shedeur Sanders’ signature celebration.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 18, 2023
Shannon: It was all, like, miming, opening refrigerators, taking a drink.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2023
The fella went through a whole physical routine, miming that she should let down the rope so he could climb up.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
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.
