break character

verb

To fail to act as a certain character; to be or act out of character.

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Meanings

verbbreak character (third-person singular simple present breaks character, present participle breaking character, simple past broke character, past participle broken character)

present singular third person breaks character · participle present breaking character · past broke character · participle past broken character

  1. intransitiveactingTo fail to act as a certain character; to be or act out of character.

    Once Lynne and I realized that Jim was going to approach the role of Kaufman in a “method acting,” Kaufmanesque kind of way—i.e., he would become Andy or Tony Clifton for the entire shoot, never breaking character […]

    2014, Bob Zmuda, Lynne Margulies, Andy Kaufman: The Truth, Finally, BenBella Books, →ISBN, page 43

Translations

Finnish ei pysy hahmossaan
  • ei pysy hahmossaanTranslations
Polish wychodzić z roli, wyjść z roli
  • wychodzić z roliTranslations
  • wyjść z roliTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

break character. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/break%20character

MLA

“break character.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/break%20character. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “break character,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/break%20character.

Source: break character on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.