Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

opéra bouffe

[op-er-uh boof, op-ruh; French aw-pey-ra boof]
See more synonyms for opéra bouffe on Thesaurus.com
noun, plural o·pé·ra bouffes, o·pé·ras bouffe, French o·pé·ras bouffes [aw-pey-ra boof] /ɔ peɪ ra ˈbuf/.
  1. a comic opera, especially of farcical character.
Show More

Origin of opéra bouffe

Borrowed into English from French around 1865–70
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for opera bouffe

Historical Examples

  • The marchale announced that she was going to the Opera-Bouffe.

    The Red and the Black

    Stendhal

  • So the night wore on, with more songs and duets from opera and opera-bouffe.

    Mount Royal, Volume 3 of 3

    Mary Elizabeth Braddon

  • To-day a drama, next week a comedy, opera-bouffe the week after.

  • Opera-bouffe and Gilbert and Sullivan are preferred to everything else.

    Town Life in Australia

    R. E. N. (Richard) Twopeny

  • Offenbach, of opera-bouffe notoriety, almost lived on coffee while creating his dainty aerial music.

    Genius in Sunshine and Shadow

    Maturin Murray Ballou

British Dictionary definitions for opera bouffe

opéra bouffe

noun plural opéras bouffes (French ɔpera buf)
  1. a type of light or satirical opera common in France during the 19th century
Show More

Word Origin

from French: comic opera
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