Adjective

(en adjective)

Of, or relating to actors or acting.

* {{quote-book, year=1905, author=

, title= , chapter=2 citation , passage=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.}}

Excessively dramatic or emotional, especially with the intention to draw attention.

* 1848 , , Oliver Goldsmith'' (review of John Forster, ''Life and Times of Oliver Goldsmith''), ''The North British Review , Volume 9: May—August, page 208,

.

* 1990 , , The Great Terror: A Reassessment , 2008, page 414,

Trotsky's vanity, unlike 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.

* 2009 , Peter Bondanella, A History of Italian Cinema , page 220,

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 De Sica's most histrionic speech.

* 2010 , Joan Lachkar, How to Talk to a Borderline , page 124,

So, as he keeps her endlessly frustrated, she becomes more histrionic ; and as she projects her emotional, “dirty” parts onto him, he becomes more anal and compulsive.

* 2011 , Neel Burton, Psychiatry , page 138,

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.

Adjective

(en adjective)

Often complaining; suggesting a complaint in expression; fretful]], [[whine, whining.

* 1877 , Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet

"There are no crimes and no criminals in these days," he said, querulously . "What is the use of having brains in our profession. I know well that I have it in me to make my name famous. No man lives or has ever lived who has brought the same amount of study and of natural talent to the detection of crime which I have done. And what is the result? There is no crime to detect, or, at most, some bungling villainy with a motive so transparent that even a Scotland Yard official can see through it."