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• n  poor acting by a ham actor
• v  exaggerate one's acting

• York, Clark's black slave, was a hit with the Indians, hamming it up to break the ice.
• And if you peeked up at the front of Air Force Two, you might see the most serious man in the world hamming it up, calling a photographer forward to snap a picture of the Vice .
• For adult filmgoers, the most fun thing about a Harry Potter movie is seeing all those great classically trained British actors--Maggie Smith, Gary Oldman, Emma Thompson--hamming .

• overacting
• overact
• ham it up
• ham
• overplay

• underact

News & Articles

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• Con man exposed after Justin Bieber ruse
  Waleed Ahmed grins for the camera, a sly smile on his face as he poses in front of a black Porsche parked on the street. At first glance, he looks like any other young guy hamming it up for an image to share with his buddies on Facebook. Yet looks can be deceiving. The Norwegian gained fame and fortune in his 20s -- enough to own that shiny, black Porsche in the photo -- after supposedly ...
  June 10, 2013 - KSAT San Antonio
• Norwegian claimed to be pop singer's booking manager in scam, authorities say
  Waleed Ahmed grins for the camera, a sly smile on his face as he poses in front of a black Porsche parked on the street. At first glance, he looks like any other young guy hamming it up for an image to share with his buddies on Facebook.
  June 10, 2013 - WJXT Jacksonville

Quotes

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• Brian Littrell in Washington Post
  I'm a ham, and I look forward to hamming it up in front of the camera,Littrell said. "My problem will be sticking to the script."
• Cher in Los Angeles Times
  The other day we were hamming it up so badly ...... ,Cher said of a group scene. "She was hot, she was really up there, her game is good."
• James Darren in Villages Daily Sun
  I was always hamming around in school,Darren said. "I liked acting, but I never did a school play. I was too shy."