😐 To show little emotion 🤖 To use fewer motors

to underact

7.4

To show too little feeling when playing a role

verb
/ˌʌndərˈækt/

Jargon

: sobreactuar

Directors often warn actors not to underact or the audience may not connect with the story.

Examples

He tends to underact in emotional scenes, making his character seem flat.
In this film, she deliberately chose to underact in contrast to her co-star's intense style.
He tends to underact in emotional scenes.
Don't underact during the audition!
The actor chose to underact in the emotional scenes to create a more believable performance.
Rather than expressing anger, he decided to underact, leaving the audience unsure of his true feelings.
In that tense moment, she seemed to underact, causing the scene to lose its intended impact.

Synonyms

to underplay

vsto underact

Specialized

1 6.4

Act in a simple, quiet way without showing too much emotion

uses excessive restraint causing weak emotional expression

Antonyms

to overact

5 5.5

To act in a way that is too strong or unnatural for the scene

How Expressive

to overact

5 5.5

to emote

7 7.9

to be oneself

4 2.8

to underact

Jargon

7.4

Surface Forms

underact infinitive

underacted past

underacted past participle

underacting present participle

underacts third person singular

Morphology

underact = act (transparent) = under + act

The verb is a straightforward prefixation under- + act meaning 'act insufficiently' and a learner who knows 'under' and 'act' will readily infer this sense.

Etymology

Underact comes from under- 'not enough' and act 'perform'. So to underact is to perform with too little feeling or energy, which can make a character seem quiet or flat.