Home / Dictionary / Ham

Ham Very Common

Ham has 13 different meanings across 3 categories:

Noun · Verb · Proper Noun

Definitions
Noun
1

meat cut from the thigh of a hog (usually smoked)

"We prepared the dinner by slicing the thick, salty ham into neat portions."

2

(Old Testament) son of Noah

"In biblical genealogy, Ham is listed as the youngest son of Noah and the father of Canaan."

Ham
3

a licensed amateur radio operator

"As a ham, he spends his weekends setting up antennas on his roof to communicate with operators around the world."

ham
4

an unskilled actor who overacts

"The play was ruined by a ham who screamed every single line with exaggerated emotion."

5

The region back of the knee joint; the popliteal space; the hock.

"The historian noted that several Hungarian monarchs were addressed by the initialism HAM for His Apostolic Majesty."

6

Obsolete form of home.

7

An overacting or amateurish performer; an actor with an especially showy or exaggerated style.

8

Initialism of his apostolic majesty, the title given to a number of historical kings of Hungary.

In plain English: Ham" was a respectful title used for certain past rulers of Hungary."

"The historian explained that King Stephen was often referred to as ham during his reign."

Usage: Use "ham" as a noun to describe someone who performs in an overly dramatic, amateurish manner or refers specifically to the fleshy part of the back of the knee. When used informally about actors, it implies excessive showiness rather than genuine skill.

Verb
1

exaggerate one's acting

"The actor decided to stop hamming it up during his final performance of the play."

2

To overact; to act with exaggerated emotions.

"The actor's performance was so hammy that he seemed unable to keep a straight face even during quiet moments."

In plain English: To ham means to exaggerate your performance or behavior for attention.

"The actor really hammed it up during the dramatic courtroom scene."

Proper Noun
1

A surname​.

"The retro gaming enthusiast excitedly explained that HAM was an initialism referring to the Hold-And-Modify graphics mode used in early Commodore Amiga computers."

2

A son of Noah and the brother of Japheth and Shem.

3

Initialism of Hold-And-Modify, a display mode of the Commodore Amiga computer, allowing for a large number of colours on screen.

Example Sentences
"The historian explained that King Stephen was often referred to as ham during his reign." noun
"We enjoyed a delicious roast ham for Christmas dinner." noun
"The bacon was placed on top of the thick slice of ham." noun
"He decided to skip lunch and eat only cold ham sandwiches instead." noun
"The actor really hammed it up during the dramatic courtroom scene." verb
See Also
pig bayonne ham hawaiian shem panini west ham monte cristo sandwich junk mail
Related Terms
Antonyms
underplay
Broader Terms (hypernyms)
cut of pork radio operator actor act
Narrower Terms (hyponyms)
Virginia ham prosciutto

Origin

The word "ham" comes from Old English hamm, which originally meant the inner or hind part of the knee. This term traces its roots back to Proto-Indo-European *kónh₂m, meaning "leg.

Rhyming Words
pham tham sham cham kham wham upham adham faham siham ogham isham asham egham dunham cobham balham lanham denham bonham
Compare
Ham vs