Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Theatrical arts or performances.
- n. Exaggerated emotional behavior calculated for effect.
Wiktionary
- n. Exaggerated, overemotional behaviour, especially when calculated to elicit a response; melodramatics.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The histrionic art; stageplaying; acting.
- n. Insincere, exaggeratedly emotional or overly dramatical speech or behavior performed to create an impression rather than as an expression of true feeling; feigned emotion.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a performance of a play
- n. a deliberate display of emotion for effect
Etymologies
- See the etymology of histrionic. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“Oh right, we did, and thanks to some histrionics from the likes of the mayor people said no. why not?”
“That's what separates Lewis 'histrionics from the self-celebratory antics of some of his peers, his actions giving voice to what the aforementioned, relatively stoic stars of yore certainly felt.”
“6 Comments: histrionics from the steel lady, so genuine, non?”
“Her histrionics were a little bag of tricks to get her through, but underneath, she was lonely and terrified.”
“So when Ms. Winslet won two awards last night, her histrionics were a little too much for us to take.”
The Golden Globes: Too Much Kate, Not Enough Ricky and an Actual Oscar Race
“And, if they were looking for Flair - which is to say histrionics - how could they miss with that kind of pick?”
“Look, we all know the economy is bad, but fear and worry are not going to solve our problems, and gratuitously ratcheting up the histrionics is the last thing that we need right now.”
“And that kind of histrionics is not only unsustainable, but dangerous.”
The Huffington Post: Charles Karel Bouley: Tucson: In the Blame Game, We All Lose
“Those expecting to see the kind of histrionics commonly displayed in movie courtroom dramas - picture, for example, the bombastic William Jennings Bryan character in "Inherit the Wind" - would have been disappointed in the hearing.”
The Washington Post: Prop 8 case: A success for cameras in the court
“If you haven't seen it, in a straightforward manner free of the kind of histrionics on display on the "No Spin Zone" every night, Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films (disclosure: they employ me) shows the pattern of bias in which Fox engages, skewing one of the key precepts of a fully-functioning democracy.”
Cliff Schecter: Bill O'Reilly Suffers Another "Momentary" Lapse Of Reason
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘histrionics’.
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1100
abound, technology, branch of knowled..., prognosticate, automaton, matron, an older married ..., realm, special field of ..., kingdom, annals, historical records and 981 more...
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gre
municipal, whit, dissembler, berate, liberally, embellish, dissimilitude, histrionics, flamboyance, bombastic, bovine, calumny and 142 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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New words
new words or spelling issues
voluble, Metagrobolize, salubrious, calumny, fugacity, withdrawal, bourse, hypertrophy, leitmotif, argot, improvident, damask and 238 more...
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GRE 2014
abate, abdicate, abase, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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January 2012
bloviate, pastiche, apparat, facile, paroxysm, pique, bedfellow, pedigree, tutelage, protege, protégé, retroactive and 196 more...
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GRE
predilection, explicit, appeal, supplication, appealing, enchanting, ovation, pertinent, apropos, opportunely, applicable, germane and 381 more...
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Previous GRE
churlish, martinet, polyglot, aplomb, dissembler, hack, dissimilitude, whit, histrionics, prevarication, pithy, aphorism and 16 more...
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November Words-10031
Godspeed, odious, affinity, cicatrix, air lift, domino, dominance, eggplant, donkey, tug boat, trifle, sculpture and 8 more...
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GRE 1100
drudgery, implore, hapless, nuance, wrest, incipient, inadvertent, tremulous, bristle, euphemism, disdain, pugnacious and 346 more...
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GRE Practice
coruscate, preternatural, preclude, retrench, perfidy, sophistry, sedulous, martinet, churlish, dissembler, prevarication, impugn and 38 more...
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aykut gre
mossy, intrusive, mettlesome, soliloquy, mocking, dissembler, prevarication, histrionics, aphorism, distinction, concise, pensive and 61 more...
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1100 words you need to know
GRE words
voracious, indiscriminate, eminent, steeped, replete, abound, technology, prognosticate, automaton, matron, paradox, realm and 288 more...
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apjoseph's words
insurmountable, ubiquitous, unequivocal, incumbent, asinine, amenable, sycophants, precarious, malevolent, gregarious, raison detra, nefarious and 200 more...
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MiaLuthien's list ♥
gambit, prehensile, coquetry, impunity, genuflect, ensconce, clavicle, delude, beget, castigate, life caching, convoluted and 478 more...
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Need to Know!
elicit, educe, refute, cogency, churlish, martinet, veritable, polyglot, dissemble, histrionics, prevarication, verbiage and 166 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for histrionics.
supbob91 found in Merriam Webster's Dictionary pg 37 Nov 15, 2010
kewpid cf kittens Nov 5, 2007