Don Giovanni

American  

[don joh-vah-nee, jee-uh-, dawn jaw-vahn-nee] / ˌdɒn dʒoʊˈvɑ ni, dʒi ə-, ˌdɔn dʒɔˈvɑn ni /

noun

1. an opera (1787) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

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Don Giovanni Cultural  

1. An opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, recounting the dissolute life of Don Juan (Don Giovanni is the Italian form of Don Juan). At the end of the opera, a statue of a man Don Giovanni has killed comes to life and drags the unscrupulous seducer into the burning pit of hell.

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Example Sentences

“My ambition,” he says in the documentary, “is not, like in Don Giovanni, collection—for Don Giovanni, women; for me, orchestras. It’s not like that.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025

Each was an exposer extraordinaire: in Taruskin’s case, a composer like Stravinsky; in Brook’s case, an opera character like Don Giovanni.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 26, 2022

“But in the hall, they want to be him. Don Giovanni does what they want. He has the guts to actually do it.”

From New York Times • Jul. 22, 2021

Admittedly, Don Giovanni probably can’t be otherwise, given the gravity of the issues it addresses.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 15, 2021

I finally fall asleep and dream of the Greek Titans in my school lesson, battling to a backdrop of thundering bass in "Da qual tremore insolito" from Don Giovanni.

From "What the Night Sings" by Vesper Stamper