Definition of "histrionic"
histrionic
adjective
comparative more histrionic, superlative most histrionic
Of or relating to actors or acting.
Quotations
On Saturday, Miss F. H. Kelly played Belvidera for the first time, to a crowded House, and for her own benefit;—for her own benefit in every way, for the performance added a wreath to her histrionic laurels, and drew down the warmest testimonies of applause.
1823 June 14, “The Drama, etc.”, in The Literary Gazette; and Journal of the Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences, &c., number 334, London: Printed by B. Bensley, […]; published for the proprietors, at the Literary Gazette office, […], page 381, column 3
[T]hey might have been figures rehearsing some play of which she herself was the author; they might even, for the happy appearance they continued to present, have been such figures as would by the strong note of character in each fill any author with the certitude of success, especially of their own histrionic.
1904, Henry James, The Golden Bowl
[…] Miss Phyllis Morgan, as the hapless heroine dressed in the shabbiest of clothes, appears in the midst of a gay and giddy throng; she apostrophises all and sundry there, including the villain, and has a magnificent scene which always brings down the house, and nightly adds to her histrionic laurels.
1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Affair at the Novelty Theatre”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin; republished in The Old Man in the Corner: Twelve Mysteries, Kelly Bray, Cornwall: House of Stratus, 2008, chapter 2, page 207
(by extension) Excessively dramatic or emotional, especially with the intention to draw attention.
Quotations
[T]he mode and the expression of honour to literature in France has continued to this hour tainted with false and histrionic feeling, because originally it grew up from spurious roots, prospered unnaturally upon deep abuses in the system, and at this day (so far as it still lingers) memorialises the political bondage of the nation.
1848 May–August, [Thomas De Quincey], “Art VI.—The Life and Adventures of Oliver Goldsmith. A Biography. In Four Books. By John Forster. London, 1848. [book review]”, in The North British Review, volume IX, Edinburgh: W. P. Kennedy, […]; London: Hamilton, Adams, and Co.; Dublin: James M‘Glashan, page 208
[Leon] Trotsky's vanity, unlike [Joseph] Stalin's, was, practically speaking, frivolous. There was something more histrionic about it. He had shown himself no less ruthless than Stalin. Indeed, at the time of the Civil War, he had ordered executions on a greater scale than Stalin or anyone else.
1990, Robert Conquest, “The Foreign Element”, in The Great Terror: A Reassessment, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press; 40th anniversary edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008, book II (The Yezhov Years), page 414
In the dance, the obsessive-compulsive keeps his mate endlessly frustrated. She, in turn, becomes more histrionic, and as she projects her emotional dirty part into him, he becomes more anal and compulsive.
2008, Joan Lachkar, “The Obsessive-Compulsive Narcissist”, in How to Talk to a Narcissist, New York, N.Y., Abingdon, Oxon.: Routledge, page 72
This lens (known as a carello ottico in Italian and a travelling optique in French) is used sparingly but effectively in General Della Rovere during the important bombardment scene inside the prison, which introduces [Vittorio] De Sica's most histrionic speech.
2009, Peter Bondanella, “Neorealism’s Legacy to a New Generation, and the Italian Political Film”, in A History of Italian Cinema, New York, N.Y.: Continuum International Publishing Group, part 3 (The Golden Age of Italian Cinema), pages 219–220
A vicious circle may form in which the more rejected they feel the more histrionic they become, and the more histrionic they become the more rejected they feel.
2010, Neel Burton, “Personality Disorders”, in Psychiatry, 2nd edition, Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, part 2, page 138, column 2