Acting Terms

noun A person who plays the main female role in a movie, play, or television show.

• The leading lady of the opera delivered a stunning performance last night.
• Did you see the leading lady in that new movie? She was amazing!
• That leading lady is killing it in her role!
• She was the leading lady in his life, always taking center stage.

verb to act in an exaggerated or excessive manner

• The actor's performance was criticized for being overacted.
• I thought the actress really overacted in that scene.
• Dude, that was so overacted, it was cringeworthy.
• Her reaction to the news was so overacted, it was like watching a soap opera.

noun an act of pretending

verb to act as if something is true when it is not

• She had to pretend to enjoy the opera even though she found it boring.
• Let's pretend we're on a tropical island for the day.
• Stop pretending to be someone you're not.
• He tried to pretend that everything was fine, but deep down he was struggling.

noun a word that functions as the name of a specific person, place, thing, or idea

preposition a word that shows the relationship between a noun (or pronoun) and other words in a sentence

• The substitute teacher will stand in for the regular teacher while she is on maternity leave.
• Can you stand in for me at the meeting tomorrow? I have a doctor's appointment.
• I need someone to stand in for me at work this weekend. Any takers?
• The new intern will stand in for the experienced employee until he returns from his vacation.