grand opera

American  

noun

1. a serious, usually tragic, opera in which most of the text is set to music.

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grand opera British  

noun

1. an opera that has a serious plot and is entirely in musical form, with no spoken dialogue

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Etymology

Origin of grand opera

First recorded in 1795–1805

Example Sentences

Purely as entertainment, it is inert; the story, about a family in mourning, features histrionics worthy of grand opera and a level of rudeness that could peel paint.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026

An impossible composer to pin down, Machover has written a traditional grand opera such as “Resurrection,” based on Tolstoy’s novel, and “Brain Opera,” which is just that, using electrodes on your noggin.

From Los Angeles Times • May 20, 2025

Like the United States, Egypt did not have a permanent national-scale ballet company until the 1950s, although it had a grand opera house in Cairo.

From New York Times • Jun. 20, 2023

The score includes one of the best-loved arias of French grand opera as well as several memorable duets with Samson, who will be sung by tenor Yonghoon Lee in his role debut.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 10, 2023

The man in those pictures is the same man who was fascinated by Italian grand opera.

From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez