dialogue
Americannoun
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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)
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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:
The designers said in a note they wanted to "open the wardrobes of the great Sicilian families" and create a dialogue between "the precious and the everyday".
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
When I was the head baker at my local homeless shelter, I baked it hundreds of times and saw how one slice, served on a paper plate, could become a catalyst for dialogue.
From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2026
Both stressed the importance of dialogue, with Xi invoking the concept of the Thucydides trap, a historical paradigm that holds that rising powers inevitably clash with established ones.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
As a co-founder of BridgeUSA, the country’s largest student-led organization devoted to civic dialogue, I have a dog in this fight.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
For the rest of the night, Houseman and Stewart labored over the script, adding details, sprucing up dialogue, and building suspense.
From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow
Shouldn’t a museum, of all places, be where complex dialogues about art and humanity can prosper?
From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026
A senior county official said the dialogues have been productive and could result in a resolution soon—a prospect that doesn’t sit well with the Fisher Island interests.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2026
"The two countries have a long history of backchannel dialogues," Markey notes, "and these have at times been effective ways to mitigate hostility and even to set the stage for more formal dialogues."
From BBC ● May 7, 2026
“We want dialogues and discussions where the Cubans are the protagonists.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 29, 2026
From the end of the seventeenth century, through sermons and lectures, through popular textbooks and dramatic dialogues, the new science was disseminated to a wider audience than ever before.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
I have not dialogued with her about the book, nor have I had the opportunity to read it.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 19, 2016
Sophocles, however, so dialogued this part of the drama, that it has no appearance of a contrivance to instruct, but seems a natural conversation of the dramatis personæ.
From History of Roman Literature from its Earliest Period to the Augustan Age. Volume I by John Dunlop
Thus foolishly dialogued I with my heart; and yet, all the time, this heart is Pamela.
From Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson
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
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
On one tune, “Craig and I started dialoguing, and I realized this wasn’t the usual ‘I’m soloing and you’re gonna comp,’ ” Carter recalled.
From New York Times ● Jun. 22, 2017
Who has not burst into laughter on reading that excellent comic scene where he paints himself dialoguing with her before the registrar?
From Beaumarchais and the War of American Independence by Elizabeth S. Kite
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.
