Definitions For Hamfatter

Noun

HAMFATTER (plural HAMFATTERs) (US, _, slang, acting) A low-grade actor; a ham.

Synonyms

ham, hambone, hamfat, overactor, tear-cat

Derived terms

ham, ham it up, ham radio

Etymology

US, appendix:glossary#a., a. 1880. From a minstrel show song called The Ham-Fat Man (1863).{{R:Online Etymology Dictionary, ham, accessdate=2017-03-16, passage=hamfatter (1880) "actor of low grade," which is said (since at least 1889) to be from the old minstrel show song, "The Ham-fat Man" (attested by 1856). The song, a comical black-face number, has nothing to do with acting, but the connection might be with the quality of acting in minstrel shows, where the song was popular (compare the definition of hambone in the 1942 "American Thesaurus of Slang," "unconvincing blackface dialectician").}}