Oscar winning actress Meryl Streep called the US President-elect a bully who humiliates others, prompting Donald Trump to describe her as "one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood" and "a Hillary (Clinton) lover".

While anti-Trump comments at the Golden Globe award ceremony on Sunday night in Beverly Hills, California, were relatively restrained, Streep, one of the most outspoken progressives in Hollywood, mounted a powerful critique of Trump's abilities.

"There was one performance this year that stunned me - it sank its hooks in my heart," Streep said. 

"Not because it was good; there was nothing good about it. But it was effective and it did its job. It made its intended audience laugh and show their teeth.

"It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter," she said, referring to a speech by Trump in 2015 when he shuddered and flailed his arms, seeming to mock a disabled reporter of The New York Times. 

"It kind of broke my heart when I saw it, and I still can't get it out of my head, because it wasn't in a movie. It was real life."

Reacting to this, Trump tweeted: "Meryl Streep, one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood, doesn't know me but attacked last night at the Golden Globes. She is a Hillary flunky who lost big."

Trump, in a brief telephone interview with the New York Times, said he had not heard Streep's remarks but added he was not surprised he had come under attack from "liberal movie people".

The Golden Globes were the last high-profile Hollywood event before Trump's inauguration on January 20, a transfer of power that many in the entertainment industry have bemoaned.

Trump flatly denied he had intended to make fun of the reporter, Serge F. Kovaleski. "I was never mocking anyone".

"People keep saying I intended to mock the reporter's disability as if Meryl Streep and others could read my mind. I did no such thing," he said.

Trump said that Streep and her allies aside, he was confident celebrities and others would turn out in strong numbers for his inauguration.

"We are going to have an unbelievable, perhaps record-setting turnout for the inauguration, and there will be plenty of movie and entertainment stars," Trump said. "All the dress shops are sold out in Washington. It's hard to find a great dress for this inauguration."

Apart from Streep, British actor Hugh Laurie and US comedian-host Jimmy Fallon, who hosted the awards ceremony, also poked fun at Trump.

There was another political statement made by "Zootopia" co-director Byron Howard. 

Without taking any name, Howard said his film, which won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature, aimed to send a message "to adults about embracing diversity, even though there are people in the world who want to divide us using fear", reports time.com.