ballad opera

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noun

a theater entertainment of 18th-century England, consisting of popular tunes, folk songs, and dialogue.

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Origin of ballad opera

First recorded in 1770–80

Words nearby ballad opera

balladeer, balladist, balladize, ballad metre, balladmonger, ballad opera, balladry, ballad stanza, ball ammunition, Ballance, ball and chain

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use ballad opera in a sentence

It was a Senate floor soap opera over none other than a soap-opera producer.
U.S. Embassies Have Always Been for Sale|William O’Connor|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
This sultry ballad about break-ups and make-ups in the City of Angels is haunting stuff.
The 14 Best Songs of 2014: Bobby Shmurda, Future Islands, Drake, and More|Marlow Stern|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
One of the most horrific episodes of the Vietnam War is being made into a government-funded opera.
The My Lai Massacre Inspires an Opera|Asawin Suebsaeng|December 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST

In June, the executive offices of the Metropolitan Opera were broken into and graffitied with obscene messages.
Inside the Metropolitan Opera’s Insane Year|Shawn E. Milnes|November 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I asked him to tell me how he produced a certain effect he makes in his arrangement of the ballad in Wagner's Flying Dutchman.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
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 Wills
At the present time he was trombone in the “Tournée Gulland,” a touring opera company.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol|William J. Locke
That 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 Porter
Certain evenings during the week she and her husband attended the opera or sometimes the play.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin

British Dictionary definitions for ballad opera

ballad opera

noun

an opera consisting of popular tunes to which appropriate words have been set, interspersed with spoken dialogue

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