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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How to Train Your Dragon will likely arrive on Peacock around three to four months after its theatrical premiere in June 2025, putting the release date around September or October 2025.—
Monica Mercuri,
Forbes.com,
15 July 2025
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But theatrical Leo parents may need reminding that rules and structure are essential in parenting too, says Brown.—
Kara Nesvig,
Parents,
15 July 2025
Adjective
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The past five years have been among the most dramatic: SXSW closed down during the first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic and did not reopen in person — on a much smaller scale — until 2022.—
Michael Barnes,
Austin American Statesman,
23 July 2025
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Whereas the kiss cam scandal offers a catchy story for leadership mishaps when work and family get tangled, most days, family seeps into leadership in less dramatic ways.—
Lieke ten Brummelhuis,
Forbes.com,
22 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hammy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hammy. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
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