melodramatize

Blend of melodrama +‎ dramatize

melodramatize (third-person singular simple present melodramatizes, present participle melodramatizing, simple past and past participle melodramatized)

1. (transitive) To make melodramatic.
   • 2007 January 14, James Traub, “Does Abe Foxman Have an Anti-Anti-Semite Problem?”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     It’s tempting to compare Abe Foxman with Al Sharpton, another portly, bellicose, melodramatizing defender of ethnic ramparts.

• chew the scenery, ham, ham it up, overact, tear a cat