ham

1 of 3

noun (1)

ˈham

Synonyms of ham next

: the hollow of the knee

: a buttock with its associated thigh

—usually used in plural

: a cut of meat consisting of a thigh

especially : one from a hog

: a showy performer

especially : an actor performing in an exaggerated theatrical style

: someone who enjoys performing and who tends to behave in an exaggerated or playful way when people are watching

A bit of a ham, she's been collecting these one-liners for decades.—

Elizabeth Rubin

" … I was always sort of a ham. I talk a lot. I'm wild. I was always performing growing up … "—

Pokey LaFarge

: a licensed operator of an amateur radio station

: a cushion used especially by tailors for pressing curved areas of garments

ham adjective

ham

2 of 3

verb

hammed; hamming

transitive verb

: to execute with exaggerated speech or gestures : overact

ham it up for the camera

intransitive verb

: to overplay a part

Ham

3 of 3

noun (2)

ˈham

: a son of Noah held to be the progenitor of the Egyptians, Nubians, and Canaanites

Example Sentences

Noun (1) We're having ham for dinner. He was once a fine actor, but now he's just an old ham. Cameras bring out the ham in her.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

While ham may be the more popular entree at American tables, lamb is the tradition in many other parts of the world. —

San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Apr. 2021 After freezing ham, the thawing time will depend on the size and type of ham. —

Katlyn Moncada, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 Apr. 2021 It’s generally served with and/or over a country ham steak and often used for biscuit sopping, hence another of its aliases: bottom sop. —

Amy Drew Thompson, orlandosentinel.com, 23 Feb. 2021 Pour the sauce over the ham balls and bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2-2 hours, turning the balls in the last half hour. —

Paul Stephen, ExpressNews.com, 2 Dec. 2020 The pies here are simple and traditional, topped with combinations like buffalo mozzarella and ham or sausage and broccoli. —

Julia Buckley, Travel + Leisure, 21 June 2023 Garnish with paprika for a beautiful presentation. 07 Pineapple Glazed Ham Pineapple and ham go together like bees and honey. —

Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 21 June 2023 With a crispy crust of American cheese and additions of ham and spicy honey, Goode later came to realize how the delicious sandwich could also demonstrate patience and care. —

Anna Luisa Rodriguez, Washington Post, 14 June 2023 In the meat aisle, uncooked ground beef jumped 2%, fresh whole chickens rose 1.9% and ham got 1.6% pricier. —

Danielle Wiener-Bronner, CNN, 13 June 2023

Verb

The five-person group appears to be posing for the camera, hamming up their respective jobs. —

Adrianna Freedman, Good Housekeeping, 14 June 2023 Flopping Is a Welcome Sideshow: Basketball stars from Nikola Jokic to Kyle Lowry are hamming up their reactions to even the slightest contact, writes our columnist. —

James Hill, New York Times, 3 June 2023 In the clip, Lamar and Keem, who are cousins as well as frequent collaborators and tour mates, are seen hamming it on a private plane, blowing off some steam while playing video games backstage and running around Dodger Stadium with the never camera-shy Tyler, the Creator in tow. —

Jonathan Cohen, SPIN, 30 May 2023 Courtesy of Hello Glow Encourage guests to dress up in their holiday finest, turn up the festive music, have some holiday punch and holiday hors d'oeuvres at the ready, and set up a cute photo backdrop for you and your friends to ham it up in front of. —

Julia Ludlam, Country Living, 1 Dec. 2022 Alabama robs its prisoners of any kind of hope, and executes them eagerly and ham handedly. —

John Archibald | Jarchibald@al.com, al, 23 Jan. 2023 One: a Natasha Lyonne impression that was deeper than Kroll’s normal speaking voice and managed to ham-fistedly reference Lou Reed. —

Vulture, 30 Sep. 2022 After 11 years of being a coach on The Voice, folks might think Blake Shelton only loves to ham it up for the TV cameras. —

Adrianna Freedman, Good Housekeeping, 12 Dec. 2022 Employees can experiment with make-your-own hot chocolate, cider and s’mores and ham it up in a 360-degree photo booth. —

Taylor Telford, Washington Post, 10 Dec. 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ham.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English hamme, homme "back of the knee, hock of a quadruped," going back to Old English hamm, homm (strong feminine) "back of the knee," going back to Germanic *hammō-, *hamō- (whence also Middle Dutch hamme "back of the knee, shank," Old High German hamma, hama (feminine weak noun) "hollow of the knee, calf, hock," hammo (masculine weak noun) "hock," Old Norse hǫm "back of the leg, haunch (of a horse)," going back to an Indo-European ablauting paradigm *konh₂-m-, *kn̥h₂-m-os, whence also Old Irish cnáim "bone," Greek knḗmē "shank, tibia"); (sense 3) probably short for hamfatter

Note: The presumption is that the Germanic etymon is a generalization of the nominative form, while the Celtic and Greek etyma maintained the oblique form. The geminate -mm- in the Germanic words is most likely a reduction of *-nm-; G. Kroonen (Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Brill, 2013) explains the variation between single and double -m- as "analogical degemination [loss of gemination] in the nominative case of an n-stem paradigm."

Verb

derivative of ham entry 1 (sense 3)

Noun (2)

Hebrew

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1933, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Noun (2)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler