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chew the scenery. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
chew the scenery, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
chew the scenery in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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chew the scenery, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Alternative forms
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.
Pronunciation
Verb
chew the scenery (third-person singular simple present chews the scenery, present participle chewing the scenery, simple past and past participle chewed the scenery)
- (idiomatic, performing arts) To display excessive emotion or to act in an exaggerated manner while performing; to be melodramatic; to be flamboyant.
1989 November 27, David Denby, “A Farewell to Arms [review of Steel Magnolias]”, in New York Magazine:The way the six stars chew the scenery is nothing compared to their abuse of one another.
2006 October 11, James Poniewozik, “Fall TV Preview”, in Time: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.
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Translations
References
- Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang