as in theatrical
given to or marked by attention-getting behavior suggestive of stage acting
a hammy singer whose overwrought renditions of love songs just beg listeners to cry
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hammy
There’s just enough harrowing sorrow, eye-popping oddity and acting — whether good or hammy, there’s undeniably a lot of it — to make for a transfixing watch.
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Alison Herman, Variety, 19 Mar. 2025
There’s nothing hammy or camp about the way the senior actors suddenly develop a predatory glean in the eye, inevitably preceding something awful coming out of their mouths.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 11 Mar. 2025
Every actor’s Hamlet is theirs and theirs alone, and Olivier’s is big and hammy and searing and often quite devastating.
—Will Leitch, Vulture, 3 Mar. 2025
More emotional scenes, however, feel hammy and didactic, heavy on the telling over the showing (and that telling hinges on being damn blunt about the whole thing, to boot).
—Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 19 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hammy
Alison Herman, Variety, 19 Mar. 2025
There’s nothing hammy or camp about the way the senior actors suddenly develop a predatory glean in the eye, inevitably preceding something awful coming out of their mouths.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 11 Mar. 2025
Every actor’s Hamlet is theirs and theirs alone, and Olivier’s is big and hammy and searing and often quite devastating.
—Will Leitch, Vulture, 3 Mar. 2025
More emotional scenes, however, feel hammy and didactic, heavy on the telling over the showing (and that telling hinges on being damn blunt about the whole thing, to boot).
—Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 19 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hammy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hammy
Adjective
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And there’s all kinds of theatrical fun at Bourbon Steak in Las Vegas.—
Andy Wang,
Forbes.com,
2 July 2025
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Off the heels of Dior Men’s era of Kim Jones, who offered elegant twists on menswear in theatrical runway shows, Anderson ushered in a playful, everyday sense of luxury, delving into the house’s heritage by reintroducing classic silhouettes morphed in new ways.—
Alice Pfeiffer,
CNN Money,
1 July 2025
Adjective
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The Brewers' dramatic extra-innings win Wednesday sealed a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers.—
Chantz Martin,
FOXNews.com,
11 July 2025
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Not for nothing either does Succession borrow a dramatic template—Shakespeare’s King Lear—that comes with immediate psychological stakes.—
Brittany Allen
July 10,
Literary Hub,
10 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hammy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hammy. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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