melodrama
Americannoun
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a dramatic form that does not observe the laws of cause and effect and that exaggerates emotion and emphasizes plot or action at the expense of characterization.
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melodramatic behavior or events.
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(in the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries) a romantic dramatic composition with music interspersed.
noun
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a play, film, etc, characterized by extravagant action and emotion
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(formerly) a romantic drama characterized by sensational incident, music, and song
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overdramatic emotion or behaviour
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a poem or part of a play or opera spoken to a musical accompaniment
Other Word Forms
- melodramatic adjective
- melodramatically adverb
- melodramatics plural noun
- melodramatist noun
- minimelodrama noun
Etymology
Origin of melodrama
1800–10; < French mélodrame, equivalent to mélo- (< Greek mélos song) + drame drama
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.
Many things happen, never for too long; all kinds of maladies, medications and melodramas are involved.
Under the umbrella of “Masterpiece,” a cavalcade of mysteries, dramas, melodramas and multipart adaptations of classic novels have come to these shores.
From Los Angeles Times
It also brings in modalities and forms of telenovelas and and Mexican melodrama.
From Los Angeles Times
Discovery has involved as many plot twists as any TV melodrama.
“No Other Choice” exhibits spasms of taut thriller and family melodrama, but its bare-knuckled satire, sprinkled with slapstick, plays as Park’s funniest film.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
