chew the scenery en · VERB
Pronunciation
Etymology
Its earliest reference is listed in the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang as being used by Mary Hallock Foote in Coeur D'Alene in 1894.http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20001024
Meanings
-
(idiomatic, qualifier:performing arts) To display excessive emotion or to act in an exaggerated manner while performing; to be melodramatic; to be flamboyant.
Starring as a Great White Hope police commissioner sent to clean up Washington, D.C., Nelson displays a set of pipes barely hinted at in his years on "Coach," spending the long pilot hour barking, bloviating, singing(!) and generally chewing the scenery.
2006 October 11, James Poniewozik, “Fall TV Preview”, in Time:The way the six stars chew the scenery is nothing compared to their abuse of one another.
1989 November 27, David Denby, “A Farewell to Arms [review of Steel Magnolias]”, in New York Magazine:Near-synonym: camp it up
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| chews the scenery | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| chewing the scenery | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| chewed the scenery | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| chewed the scenery | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| chew up the scenery | alternative | lexicographic | |
| chew on the scenery | alternative | lexicographic |
Deriveds
scenery-chewing · scenery-chewer
Synonyms
ham it up · overact · tear a cat · melodramatize · camp it up
Translations (6)
fr cabotiner (To perform in an excessively emotional or exaggerated manner) · fr surjouer (To perform in an excessively emotional or exaggerated manner) · pl odgrywać przesadnie (To perform in an excessively emotional or exaggerated manner) · it essere sopra le righe (To perform in an excessively emotional or exaggerated manner) · pl odegrać przesadnie (To perform in an excessively emotional or exaggerated manner) · es robar escena (To perform in an excessively emotional or exaggerated manner)