Tuesday, March 11, 2014

overact, overreact

Overact or overact, said of actors or entertainers, means to emote, or to project more emotion than is realistic--
He tends to overact, even on the stage; he'll really have to tone it down for the camera.
Try not to overact, it makes the whole scene unconvincing.

Overreact or overreact means to blow things out of proportion, possibly by showing more emotion than the situation warrants--
I wish she wouldn't overreact every time some little thing goes wrong--I think she needs a psychiatrist.
Let's hope he doesn't overreact the way he did the last time we were late--he got hysterical, remember?

Now that you know that, you can say--
"I'm afraid she'll overreact if I tell her not to overact--you tell her, but be tactful."

No comments:

Post a Comment