dramatis personae

American  

[dram-uh-tis per-soh-nee, drah-muh-] / ˈdræm ə tɪs pərˈsoʊ ni, ˈdrɑ mə- /

noun

1. (used with a plural verb) the characters in a play.

2. (used with a singular verb) a list of the characters preceding the text of a play.

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dramatis personae British  

/ ˈdrɑːmətɪs pəˈsəʊnaɪ /

plural noun

1. the characters or a list of characters in a play or story

2. the main personalities in any situation or event

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dramatis personae Cultural  

1. A Latin expression for “cast of characters.” It means literally “the persons of the drama” and is occasionally used at the beginning of scripts for plays as the title of the list of characters.

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Discover More

In general, the “dramatis personae” are the participants in an event: “Winston Churchill, Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin were the dramatis personae at the Yalta Conference.”

Etymology

Origin of dramatis personae

1720–30; < Latin: characters of the play

Example Sentences

With a few minor and necessary exceptions dictated by the dramatis personae in certain scenes, Mr. Tucker primarily confines himself to the role of Iago while Mr. Quinn plays Othello.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 3, 2026

In one respect, the dramatis personae in Kananaskis helps.

From BBC • Jun. 14, 2025

A new prologue, by the Israeli author Sivan Ben Yishai, is little more than an extended read-through of the dramatis personae.

From New York Times • Nov. 17, 2022

She and the other dramatis personae of “Liarmouth” feel like they’ve just walked off a Waters set still in character; the narrative braids perspectives together across different locations in a way that resembles cinematic crosscutting.

From Los Angeles Times • May 23, 2022

In the case of marrying, the dramatis personae include the person being married and the person doing the marrying.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Related Words

• list
• troupe