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

In one respect, the dramatis personae in Kananaskis helps.

From BBC • Jun. 14, 2025

The war that ensues between her and the rest of the dramatis personae might then have given the second act higher and sharper stakes.

From New York Times • Feb. 20, 2023

The dramatis personae of the novel are listed at the start, with shorthand descriptions normally reserved for plays.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2022

The atmosphere is a multimedia swirl, but it’s the changes in dramatis personae that make the production initially hard to track.

From Los Angeles Times • May 16, 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