dialogue
Americannoun
-
dialogues
plural
-
conversation between two or more persons.
-
the conversation between characters in a novel, drama, etc.
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an exchange of ideas or opinions on a particular issue, especially a political or religious issue, with a view to reaching an amicable agreement or settlement.
-
a literary work in the form of a conversation.
a dialogue of Plato.
verb (used without object)
-
dialogues,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dialogued,
past participle, past
-
dialoguing
present participle
-
to carry on a dialogue; converse.
-
to discuss areas of disagreement frankly in order to resolve them.
verb (used with object)
-
dialogues,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dialogued,
past participle, past
-
dialoguing
present participle
noun
-
conversation between two or more people
-
an exchange of opinions on a particular subject; discussion
-
the lines spoken by characters in drama or fiction
-
a particular passage of conversation in a literary or dramatic work
-
a literary composition in the form of a dialogue
-
a political discussion between representatives of two nations or groups
verb
-
(tr) to put into the form of a dialogue
-
(intr) to take part in a dialogue; converse
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
dialoguesimple
-
dialoguessimple
-
have dialoguedperfect
-
has dialoguedperfect
-
am dialoguingprogressive
-
are dialoguingprogressive
-
is dialoguingprogressive
-
have been dialoguingperfect progressive
-
has been dialoguingperfect progressive
Past
-
dialoguedsimple
-
had dialoguedperfect
-
was dialoguingprogressive
-
were dialoguingprogressive
-
had been dialoguingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dialogue
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English, from Old French dïalogue, Latin dialogus, from Greek diálogos; equivalent to dia- + -logue
Explanation
If you land a role in a local play, you will probably have to memorize several lines of dialogue. If you disagree with how that play is being produced, you may want to open up a dialogue with the director. Dialogue can refer to spoken lines in a dramatic performance such as a play, a film, or a television show. It is also any conversation between two or more people. On the written page, dialogue between characters is usually enclosed by quotation marks. When persons representing different political parties or different nations are said to engage in a dialogue, it means they are probably negotiating something of importance.
Vocabulary lists containing dialogue
TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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AP English Lit exam terms
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Language and Grammar - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"Reading papers from both research fields, we realized that deeper dialogue between researchers from both fields is necessary."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026
In a moment when no one can quite agree on how to properly address what’s so clearly happening before our eyes with Grande, a film like “Maddie’s Secret” opens a dialogue.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
However, Conmebol did "express its concern about the repeated unilateral actions taken without resorting to dialogue or the institutional mechanisms provided for dealing with this type of situation".
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
"The Council also unanimously expresses its concern regarding the repeated unilateral actions taken without resorting to dialogue or to the institutional mechanisms established to address situations of this nature."
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
Art has been called a visual dialogue, for though the object itself is mute, it expresses its creator’s intention just as surely as if it were speaking to us.
From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson
The question-and-answer sessions, dubbed "interactive dialogues," were introduced in 2016.
From Barron's ● Apr. 23, 2026
“We want dialogues and discussions where the Cubans are the protagonists.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 29, 2026
India and Bangladesh conduct annual military exercises, co-ordinated naval patrols, annual defence dialogues and operate a $500m Indian line of credit for defence purchases.
From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2026
His “prove me wrong” events—the invitation to take all comers in dialogues he set up on college campuses—often went viral online and drew thousands of young voters to the conservative cause.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025
Never once in their dialogues did I hear a syllable of regret at the hospitality they had extended to me, or of suspicion of, or aversion to, myself.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
I have not dialogued with her about the book, nor have I had the opportunity to read it.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 19, 2016
At the end of the fifteenth century F. de Rojas wrote a dialogued story, Calisto e Melibœa, about two distressed lovers.
From Folkways A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals by William Graham Sumner
Will he bear, do you think, to be thus dialogued with?
From Clarissa Harlowe; or the history of a young lady — Volume 1 by Samuel Richardson
They read very much like dialogued essays; and it is interesting to compare them with Addison's essays which treat sometimes of the same subjects.
From The English Novel in the Time of Shakespeare by J. J. Jusserand
In the scene in which it was produced the daring author has dialogued thus: Scene III Mlle.
From Beaumarchais and the War of American Independence by Elizabeth S. Kite
Interspersed throughout the story are black-and-white “mystical visions,” as Anderson calls them, in which Korda sees himself in heaven atoning for his sins and even dialoguing with God.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2025
"It's sort of a cool checks and balances system. That's important, because we've had some really good success as far as dialoguing and getting people on board with what we're doing," she says.
From Salon ● Dec. 4, 2022
“In the comments, these people are actually dialoguing, actually talking to each other,” Blaschko said.
From Slate ● Mar. 14, 2022
“We arrived at Inhotim with the idea of dialoguing with the territories around the museum and with leaders from territories in and around Belo Horizonte,” he said of the capital of the state, Minas Gerais.
From New York Times ● Feb. 18, 2022
Friedrich sent him a gold snuffbox by and by, but had no farther dialoguing.
From History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 18 by Thomas Carlyle
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
