the·at·ri·cal·iza·tion
thēˌa‧trə̇kələ̇ˈzāshən 
plural -s
: the act of theatricalizing or the state of being theatricalized
Examples of theatricalize in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 12 Sep. 2022
Dance and history and race and loss tempered with hope — what a subject for a musical this would be, if only Paradise Square had managed to theatricalize it.
—Helen Shaw, Vulture, 3 Apr. 2022
Instead, Zimmerman had somehow found a way to theatricalize the elliptical jottings of a famed Renaissance artist: a series of eccentric, first-draft musings that even the author claimed had no innate cohesion.
—Chris Jones, chicagotribune.com, 23 Feb. 2022
The big paintings theatricalize stages of adolescent amour—resisted seduction, furtive intimacy, triumphant union, and subsequent nostalgia—among young people at court who were given nothing to do in life except to dress up and to play at love.
—Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, 8 Feb. 2021
The actors often over-theatricalize their exchanges, leaving little room to register the interior blips and bumps occurring between words.
—Charles McNulty, latimes.com, 24 Apr. 2018
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Verb
For some, the humor likely will be cathartic, for others highly uncomfortable, but that clearly is intentional on the part of the artists and, to my mind, a legitimate way to theatricalize the didactic point that this playwright wants to make.
—Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 12 Sep. 2022
Dance and history and race and loss tempered with hope — what a subject for a musical this would be, if only Paradise Square had managed to theatricalize it.
—Helen Shaw, Vulture, 3 Apr. 2022
Instead, Zimmerman had somehow found a way to theatricalize the elliptical jottings of a famed Renaissance artist: a series of eccentric, first-draft musings that even the author claimed had no innate cohesion.
—Chris Jones, chicagotribune.com, 23 Feb. 2022
The big paintings theatricalize stages of adolescent amour—resisted seduction, furtive intimacy, triumphant union, and subsequent nostalgia—among young people at court who were given nothing to do in life except to dress up and to play at love.
—Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, 8 Feb. 2021
The actors often over-theatricalize their exchanges, leaving little room to register the interior blips and bumps occurring between words.
—Charles McNulty, latimes.com, 24 Apr. 2018
Cite this Entry
“Theatricalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/theatricalize. Accessed 19 Jun. 2026.
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