Learning / English Dictionary

ACTOR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A theatrical performer

Synonyms:

actor; histrion; player; role player; thespian

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("actor" is a kind of...):

performer; performing artist (an entertainer who performs a dramatic or musical work for an audience)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "actor"):

walk-on (plays a small part in a dramatic production)

upstager (a selfish actor who upstages the other actors)

standby; understudy (an actor able to replace a regular performer when required)

tragedian (an actor who specializes in tragic roles)

extra; spear carrier; supernumerary (a minor actor in crowd scenes)

lead; principal; star (an actor who plays a principal role)

movie actor; screen actor (an actor who plays a role in a film)

scene-stealer (an actor who draws more attention than other actors in the same scene)

reenactor (a person who enacts a role in an event that occurred earlier)

actress (a female actor)

barnstormer; play-actor; playactor; trouper (an actor who travels around the country presenting plays)

character actor (an actor who specializes in playing supporting roles)

comedian (an actor in a comedy)

ham; ham actor (an unskilled actor who overacts)

heavy (an actor who plays villainous roles)

ingenue (an actress who specializes in playing the role of an artless innocent young girl)

leading man (actor who plays the leading male role)

mime; mimer; mummer; pantomimer; pantomimist (an actor who communicates entirely by gesture and facial expression)

plant (an actor situated in the audience whose acting is rehearsed but seems spontaneous to the audience)

Instance hyponyms:

Baron Olivier of Birghton; Laurence Olivier; Olivier; Sir Laurence Kerr Olivier (English actor best know for his Shakespearean roles (1907-1989))

Newman; Paul Leonard Newman; Paul Newman (United States film actor (born in 1925))

Dudley Moore; Dudley Stuart John Moore; Moore (English actor and comedian who appeared on television and in films (born in 1935))

Mitchum; Robert Mitchum (United States film actor (1917-1997))

James Mason; James Neville Mason; Mason (English film actor (1909-1984))

Martin; Steve Martin (United States actor and comedian (born in 1945))

E. G. Marshall; Marshall (United States actor (1914-1998))

Alfred Lunt; Lunt (United States actor who performed with his wife Lynn Fontanne in many stage productions (1893-1977))

Bela Ferenc Blasko; Bela Lugosi; Lugosi (United States film actor (born in Hungary) noted for portraying monsters (1884-1956))

Laszlo Lowestein; Lorre; Peter Lorre (United States actor (born in Hungary) noted for playing sinister roles (1904-1964))

Harold Clayton Lloyd; Harold Lloyd; Lloyd (United States comic actor in silent films; he used physical danger as a source of comedy (1893-1971))

Jack Lemmon; John Uhler; Lemmon (United States film actor (1925-2001))

Bruce Lee; Lee; Lee Yuen Kam (United States actor who was an expert in kung fu and starred in martial arts films (1941-1973))

Charles Laughton; Laughton (United States film actor (born in England) (1899-1962))

Eugene Curran Kelly; Gene Kelly; Kelly (United States dancer who performed in many musical films (1912-1996))

Buster Keaton; Joseph Francis Keaton; Keaton (United States comedian and actor in silent films noted for his acrobatic skills and deadpan face (1895-1966))

Edmund Kean; Kean (English actor noted for his portrayals of Shakespeare's great tragic characters (1789-1833))

Boris Karloff; Karloff; William Henry Pratt (United States film actor (born in England) noted for his performances in horror films (1887-1969))

George Orson Welles; Orson Welles; Welles (United States actor and filmmaker (1915-1985))

Duke Wayne; John Wayne; Wayne (United States film actor who played tough heroes (1907-1979))

Peter Alexander Ustinov; Sir Peter Ustinov; Ustinov (British actor and playwright (1921-2004))

Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree; Tree (English actor and theatrical producer noted for his lavish productions of Shakespeare (1853-1917))

Spencer Tracy; Tracy (United States film actor who appeared in many films with Katharine Hepburn (1900-1967))

Erich von Stroheim; Stroheim (United States film actor (born in Austria) (1885-1957))

Israel Strassberg; Lee Strasberg; Strasberg (United States actor and film director (born in Austria) who was a leader in developing method acting in the United States (1901-1982))

James Maitland Stewart; Jimmy Stewart; Stewart (United States film actor who portrayed incorruptible but modest heros (1908-1997))

Konstantin Sergeevich Alekseev; Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavsky; Konstantin Stanislavsky; Stanislavsky (Russian actor and theater director who trained his actors to emphasize the psychological motivation of their roles (1863-1938))

Otis Skinner; Skinner (United States actor (1858-1942))

Francis Albert Sinatra; Frank Sinatra; Sinatra (United States singer and film actor (1915-1998))

Peter Sellers; Sellers (English comic actor (1925-1980))

George C. Scott; Scott (award-winning United States film actor (1928-1999))

Edward G. Robinson; Edward Goldenberg Robinson; Robinson (United States film actor noted for playing gangster roles (1893-1973))

Ralph Richardson; Richardson; Sir Ralph David Richardson (British stage and screen actor noted for playing classic roles (1902-1983))

Charles Robert Redford; Redford; Robert Redford (United States actor and filmmaker who starred with Paul Newman in several films (born in 1936))

Poitier; Sidney Poitier (United States film actor and director (born in 1927))

O'Toole; Peter O'Toole; Peter Seamus O'Toole (British actor (born in Ireland in 1932))

Depardieu; Gerard Depardieu (French film actor (born in 1948))

De Niro; Robert De Niro (United States film actor who frequently plays tough characters (born 1943))

Dean; James Byron Dean; James Dean (United States film actor whose moody rebellious roles made him a cult figure (1931-1955))

Bing Crosby; Crosby; Harry Lillis Crosby (United States singer and film actor (1903-1977))

Cronyn; Hume Blake Cronyn; Hume Cronyn (Canadian actor who frequently played character parts with his wife Jessica Tandy (1911-2003))

Coward; Noel Coward; Sir Noel Pierce Coward (English dramatist and actor and composer noted for his witty and sophisticated comedies (1899-1973))

Cooper; Frank Cooper; Gary Cooper (United States film actor noted for his portrayals of strong silent heroes (1901-1961))

Chevalier; Maurice Chevalier (French actor and cabaret singer (1888-1972))

Cagney; James Cagney; Jimmy Cagney (United States film actor known for his portrayals of tough characters (1899-1986))

Burton; Richard Burton (Welsh film actor who often co-starred with Elizabeth Taylor (1925-1984))

Burbage; Richard Burbage (English actor who was the first to play the leading role in several of Shakespeare's tragedies (1567-1619))

Booth; John Wilkes Booth (United States actor and assassin of President Lincoln (1838-1865))

Bogart; Humphrey Bogart; Humphrey DeForest Bogart (United States film actor (1899-1957))

Barrymore; John Barrymore (United States actor; son of Maurice Barrymore and Georgiana Barrymore (1882-1942))

Barrymore; Lionel Barrymore (United States actor; son of Maurice Barrymore and Georgiana Barrymore (1878-1954))

Barrymore; Herbert Blythe; Maurice Barrymore (United States actor; husband of Georgiana Emma Barrymore and father of Ethel Barrymore and John Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore (1847-1905))

Astaire; Fred Astaire (United States dancer and cinema actor noted for his original and graceful tap dancing (1899-1987))

Allen; Allen Stewart Konigsberg; Woody Allen (United States filmmaker and comic actor (1935-))

Al Jolson; Asa Yoelson; Jolson (United States singer (born in Russia) who appeared in the first full-length talking film (1886-1950))

Howard; Leslie Howard; Leslie Howard Stainer (English actor of stage and screen (1893-1943))

Anthony Hopkins; Hopkins; Sir Anthony Hopkins; Sir Anthony Philip Hopkins (Welsh film actor (born in 1937))

Dustin Hoffman; Hoffman (versatile United States film actor (born in 1937))

Heming; Hemminge; John Heming; John Hemminge (English actor who edited the first folio of Shakespeare's plays (1556-1630))

Harrison; Reginald Carey Harrison; Rex Harrison; Sir Rex Harrison (English actor on stage and in films (1908-1990))

Hanks; Thomas J. Hanks; Tom Hanks (United States film actor (born in 1956))

Alec Guinness; Guinness; Sir Alec Guinness (English stage and screen actor noted for versatility (1914-2000))

Granville-Barker; Harley Granville-Barker (English actor and dramatist and critic and director noted for his productions of Shakespearean plays (1877-1946))

Cary Grant; Grant (United States actor (born in England) who was the elegant leading man in many films (1904-1986))

Arthur John Gielgud; Gielgud; Sir John Gielgud (English actor of Shakespearean roles who was also noted for appearances in films (1904-2000))

Gibson; Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson; Mel Gibson (Australian actor (born in the United States in 1956))

David Garrick; Garrick (English actor and theater manager who was the foremost Shakespearean actor of his day (1717-1779))

Clark Gable; Gable; William Clark Gable (United States film actor (1901-1960))

Fonda; Henry Fonda (United States film actor (1905-1982))

Douglas Fairbanks Jr.; Fairbanks (United States film actor; son of Douglas Elton Fairbanks, (1909-2000))

Douglas Elton Fairbanks; Douglas Fairbanks; Fairbanks; Julius Ullman (United States film actor noted for his swashbuckling roles (1883-1939))

Drew; John Drew (United States actor (born in Ireland); father of Georgiana Emma Barrymore (1827-1862))

Derivation:

act (play a role or part)

act (perform on a stage or theater)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A person who acts and gets things done

Example:

he's a miracle worker

Synonyms:

actor; doer; worker

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("actor" is a kind of...):

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "actor"):

demon (someone extremely diligent or skillful)

busy bee; eager beaver; live wire; sharpie; sharpy (an alert and energetic person)

animator; energiser; energizer; vitaliser; vitalizer (someone who imparts energy and vitality and spirit to other people)

ball of fire; go-getter; whiz-kid; whizz-kid (someone whose career progresses rapidly)

man of action; man of deeds (someone inclined to act first and think later)

ball of fire; fireball; human dynamo; powerhouse (a highly energetic and indefatigable person)

Derivation:

act (discharge one's duties)

Credits

 Context examples: 

In the course of the day I was enrolled a member of the fourth class, and regular tasks and occupations were assigned me: hitherto, I had only been a spectator of the proceedings at Lowood; I was now to become an actor therein.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

As yet I looked upon crime as a distant evil, benevolence and generosity were ever present before me, inciting within me a desire to become an actor in the busy scene where so many admirable qualities were called forth and displayed.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

In publishing these short sketches based upon the numerous cases in which my companion’s singular gifts have made us the listeners to, and eventually the actors in, some strange drama, it is only natural that I should dwell rather upon his successes than upon his failures.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They are like actors: now a man's a judge, and now he is not a judge; now he's one thing, now he's another; now he's something else, change and change about; but it's always a very pleasant, profitable little affair of private theatricals, presented to an uncommonly select audience.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

One theory is that in the context of in-person actors’ faces, the LPS lighting created a kind of optical illusion.

(Rosy health and sickly green: color associations play robust role in reading faces, National Institutes of Health)

When an actor I had, of course, learned all the secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for my skill.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

As far as she could judge, Mr. Crawford was considerably the best actor of all: he had more confidence than Edmund, more judgment than Tom, more talent and taste than Mr. Yates.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

The upside of the Sun conjunct Neptune is that if you work in the arts—perhaps as an actor, artist, photographer, musician, director of an art gallery or curator of a museum, or any of the many other jobs that deal in the creative or cultural arts—you may conclude an agreement for a large sale within four days of this full moon.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

I did not now watch the actors; I no longer waited with interest for the curtain to rise; my attention was absorbed by the spectators; my eyes, erewhile fixed on the arch, were now irresistibly attracted to the semicircle of chairs.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

No gentleman were admitted, so Jo played male parts to her heart's content and took immense satisfaction in a pair of russet leather boots given her by a friend, who knew a lady who knew an actor.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)