overplay

/'ouvə'plei/
Học thuật
Thân thiện
overplay

The actor tends to overplay his emotional scenes.

Definition
  1. Verb:
    • To exaggerate one's acting: To perform a role in a play, film, or other dramatic production with excessive emphasis or theatricality, making the performance seem unnatural or forced.
    • To overemphasize or attach too much importance to something: To give something more significance, attention, or weight than it deserves or requires.
Usage and Examples

  • Verb (in acting/performance):

    • The director told the actor not to overplay the villain's anger; subtlety would be more effective.
    • In amateur theatre, actors sometimes overplay their roles, making the characters seem like caricatures.

  • Verb (in general contexts):

    • Politicians often overplay the threat from their opponents to gain public support.
    • Don't overplay your hand in the negotiations, or they might walk away from the deal entirely.
Advanced Usage and Nuances

  • "To overplay one's hand": This is a common idiomatic extension from card games. It means to act too confidently based on the strength of one's position, often resulting in failure or loss.

    • He overplayed his hand by demanding too high a salary and lost the job offer.

  • The concept often implies a lack of subtlety or restraint. It suggests that the action—whether acting, arguing, or strategizing—has passed a point of effectiveness and become counterproductive.

Variants and Related Words

  • Overacted (verb, past tense): The simple past form of 'overplay' in the context of performance.

    • She overacted the death scene, unfortunately.

  • Overemphasis (noun): The related concept of excessive emphasis.

    • The overemphasis on test scores is harming students' creativity.
Synonyms
  • Exaggerate: To represent something as being larger, better, or worse than it really is.
  • Ham it up (informal, for acting): To act in an exaggerated or overly theatrical way.
  • Overstate: To state something too strongly; to exaggerate.
Antonyms
  • Underplay: To perform a role with deliberate restraint or subtlety.
  • Downplay: To make something appear less important than it really is.
Related Idioms and Phrases
  • Overplay your hand: As detailed above, to miscalculate by being too aggressive or confident based on one's perceived advantages.
    • The company overplayed its hand in the market and now faces serious competition.
overplay

The actor tends to overplay his emotional scenes.

Verb
  1. exaggerate one's acting

Từ đồng nghĩa

Từ trái nghĩa