Histrionic
adj ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Of or relating to actors or acting.
"After three years of constant applause, Miss [Elizabeth] O'Neill directed her steps towards the summit of histrionick exertion, being engaged for the season of 1814 at Covent Garden, where she made her first entrée as Juliet, on the 6th of October, being at once recognised as the first Hibernian actress, who had joined transcendant beauty with rare histrionick talent, since the time of Mrs. [Peg] Woffington."
- 2 Excessively dramatic or emotional, especially with the intention to draw attention. broadly
"[F]oppiſh airs / And hiſtrionic mumm'ry, that let down / The pulpit to the level of the ſtage, / Drops from the lips a diſregarded thing."
- 1 characteristic of acting or a stage performance; often affected wordnet
Example
More examples"He became histrionic upon hearing the news."
Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin histriōnicus (“pertaining to acting; scurrilous, shameful; wretched”), from Latin histriōnicus (“pertaining to acting and the theatre”), from histriō (“actor, player”) + -icus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’). By surface analysis, histrion + -ic.
Related phrases
More for "histrionic"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.