dress circle

noun

1. a circular or curving division of seats in a theater, opera house, etc., usually the first gallery, originally set apart for spectators in evening dress.

dress circle

noun

1. a tier of seats in a theatre or other auditorium, usually the first gallery above the ground floor

Word History and Origins

Origin of dress circle¹

First recorded in 1815–25

Example Sentences

It has no dress circle, chandeliers or Champagne - but a lot of grey concrete.

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“England is in the gallery, the tropics in the upper circle, Australia on the dress circle and the antarctic in the pit,” he wrote.

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The woman in the red dress circles the Belle.

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She laughs, and you can hear the elasticity of her vocal cords—the suppleness of a slingshot ready to lob a High C into the dress circle at any moment.

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She said ticket price cuts in the balcony and upper circle had boosted audiences, and would be extended to the dress circle this year.

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