misactv.
/mɪsˈakt/, U.S. /mɪsˈækt/ Now rare.
transitive. To act (a part, role, etc.) badly or wrongly.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > acting > act [verb (transitive)] > act in specific manner
misact1609
tragedize1755
overact1760
overplay1767
to walk through ——1824
underact1847
to play down to ——1880
routine1897
underplay1897
milk1921
ham1933
hoke1935
to camp it up1957
to play for laughs (also a laugh)1963
undercharacterize1970
1609 J. Rawlinson Fishermen 35 So if the Minister did misact but an earthly Prince only, his fault were more tolerable.
1614 T. Adams Diuells Banket vi. 338 The Player, that misacts an inferiour and vnnoted part, carryes it away without censure.
1665 G. Wither Three Private Medit. 5 Yea, no less praise for what is lost, Then that, for which we triumph most; The one our pride may elevate, The other, humble us, for that Which was mis-acted, or mis-spoke.
1822 P. M. Freneau Transient View Monticello in Last Poems (1945) 104 That generous feeling in the breast, Familiar, to each worthy mind, Mis acting well the part assigned.
1925 Contemp. Rev. Nov. 624 The wonderful scene in Pimen's cell..was completely ‘mis-acted’, if I may use a non-existing word.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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