leitmotif
noun
a motif or theme associated throughout a music drama with a particular person, situation, or idea.
leitmotiv
-
a variation of
leitmotif.
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.
A rambling rumination on "an American loss of nerve" by former New York Times Critic John Leonard has, aptly, a running leitmotiv of Japanese fog.
From Time Magazine Archive
Gorbachev's stormy relations with sometime enemy, sometime ally Yeltsin are woven through the narrative like a leitmotiv from the Wagnerian music he so much admires.
From Time Magazine Archive
The leitmotiv of the new age: second place seems just fine.
From Time Magazine Archive
After a shortened season filled with the sloppiest play since the ABA, the Knicks are thriving on the wildness that has been this season's leitmotiv.
From Time Magazine Archive
A sudden twinge, a momentary giddiness, send you scurrying back to your bailiwick, the bedroom, and the familiar leitmotiv is once more sounded, and with what humility of accent: "Mamma!"
From Unicorns by James Huneker
