comic opera

¹

noun

1. a diverting opera with spoken dialogue and a happy ending.
2. the tradition or genre of such operas.

comic-opera

²

[ kom-ik-op-er-uh, -op-ruh ]

adjective

1. comically vainglorious; having farcically self-important aspects:

   a comic-opera army, proud in its ceremonial splendor but inept on the battlefield.

comic opera

noun

1. See opera buffa, opéra bouffe
   a play largely set to music, employing comic effects or situations See also opéra bouffe opera buffa

Word History and Origins

Origin of comic opera¹

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

Frishberg took an early and eclectic interest in music, listening to an older brother’s boogie-woogie jazz records and to the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan.

From Washington Post

That is true, but still I was not exactly a comic opera villain.

From The Daily Beast

But the Oxford writer who best captures this comic opera is its longtime writer in residence, the sadly now-deceased Barry Hannah.

From The Daily Beast

Ailes knows how to make the confusion of the news into a nervous and strangely comforting comic opera.

From The Daily Beast

A small contingent of the members hurried off to applaud the successful comic opera of the hour.

From Project Gutenberg

At last Monsieur Carvalho asked me to write a comic opera, and to take my subject from Molire.

From Project Gutenberg

He might better have been in comic opera than in the humble occupation of selling crabs and lobsters.

From Project Gutenberg

He says it's not an ordinary burlesque, but a mixture of a problem play and a comic opera.

From Project Gutenberg

So far so well, but I doubt whether the native comic opera will survive its originators.

From Project Gutenberg