opera
1an extended dramatic composition, in which all parts are sung to instrumental accompaniment, that usually includes arias, choruses, and recitatives, and that sometimes includes ballet.: Compare comic opera, grand opera.
the form or branch of musical and dramatic art represented by such compositions.
the score or the words of such a composition.
a performance of one: to go to the opera.
(sometimes initial capital letter) an opera house or resident company: the Paris Opera.
Origin of opera
1Words Nearby opera
Other definitions for opera (2 of 2)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use opera in a sentence
Its graduates include comedian Dave Chappelle, opera singer Denyce Graves and Grammy-winning bass player Ben Williams.
Why did education leaders trash a school full of music, dance and art? | Jay Mathews | January 30, 2021 | Washington PostStill, Lincoln loved music, especially opera, and showed up but didn’t dance at his inaugural balls.
Not all presidents’ dance skills are created equal | Bonnie Berkowitz, Joanne Lee | January 21, 2021 | Washington PostCharles Wuorinen, a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer who wrote the groundbreaking opera “Brokeback Mountain,” died on March 11 at age 81 from complications from a fall in Manhattan.
When she sat down at her computer one morning this spring, Kitty O’Meara didn’t intend to write an iconic poem, a children’s book or an opera.
The story behind ‘And the People Stayed Home,’ the little poem that became so much more | Nora Krug | December 10, 2020 | Washington PostIt was mid-September and Sander hadn’t performed in an opera for six months.
Why Vienna opera singers are ready to risk their lives to perform in a pandemic | Julia Belluz | September 30, 2020 | Vox
It was a Senate floor soap opera over none other than a soap-opera producer.
One of the most horrific episodes of the Vietnam War is being made into a government-funded opera.
One beginning that amused him takes place at the Metropolitan opera House in New York.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days | David Freeman | December 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIn June, the executive offices of the Metropolitan opera were broken into and graffitied with obscene messages.
The Metropolitan opera is the old-school Cadillac of arts institutions.
A small contingent of the members hurried off to applaud the successful comic opera of the hour.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3) | Charles James WillsAt the present time he was trombone in the “Tournée Gulland,” a touring opera company.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol | William J. LockeThat you did not steal from her house by a secret passage, on the night of the destruction of the opera-house?
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4 | Jane PorterCertain evenings during the week she and her husband attended the opera or sometimes the play.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories | Kate ChopinFecit dextera Di virtutem: non est mortuus, sed vixit; & nunc incolumis narrat opera Di.
British Dictionary definitions for opera (1 of 2)
/ (ˈɒpərə, ˈɒprə) /
an extended dramatic work in which music constitutes a dominating feature, either consisting of separate recitatives, arias, and choruses, or having a continuous musical structure
the branch of music or drama represented by such works
the score, libretto, etc, of an opera
a theatre where opera is performed
Origin of opera
1British Dictionary definitions for opera (2 of 2)
/ (ˈɒpərə) /
a plural of opus
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for opera
A musical drama that is totally or mostly sung. Aïda, Carmen, and Don Giovanni are some celebrated operas. A light, comic opera is often called an operetta.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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