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grand opera

American  

noun

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


grand opera British  

noun

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of grand opera

First recorded in 1795–1805

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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

Here were all the trappings of grand opera and none of the substance.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 7, 2024

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

Abels transcribed her threads and wove them into grand opera, drawing inspiration from classical Americana, gospel music and Arabic modalities alike.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 21, 2022

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

From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez

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