cloak-and-sword

American

[klohk-uhn-sawrd] / ˈkloʊk ənˈsɔrd /

adjective

(of a drama or work of fiction) dealing with characters who wear cloaks and swords; concerned with the customs and romance of the nobility in bygone times.

Etymology

Origin of cloak-and-sword

First recorded in 1800–10

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

cloak-and-sword

In 47 years he produced 38 sometimes absurd but usually irresistible novels for the cloak-and-sword trade.

From Time Magazine Archive

Hence they exhibit a greater gravity of tone; but in other respects there is no difference between them and the cloak-and-sword comedies with which they share the element of comic underplots.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 7 "Drama" to "Dublin" by Various

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023