opera buffa

American  

[op-er-uh boo-fuh, op-ruh, aw-pe-rah boof-fah] / ˈɒp ər ə ˈbu fə, ˈɒp rə, ˈɔ pɛ rɑ ˈbuf fɑ /

noun

opera buffas, plural operas buffa, plural opere buffe plural

1. an Italian farcical comic opera originating in the 18th century and containing recitativo secco, patter songs, and ensemble finales.

2. the operatic genre comprising such works.

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opera buffa British  

/ ˈbuːfə, ˈopera ˈbuffa /

noun

1. comic opera, esp that originating in Italy during the 18th century

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• opere buffe
  plural
• operas buffa
  plural
• opera buffas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of opera buffa

Borrowed into English from Italian around 1795–1805

Example Sentences

This obscure and hilariously outrageous takeoff on the genre of Italian opera buffa, written in 1846, turned out to be the hit of the weekend.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 7, 2024

And the fierce attachment to the female point of view has the effect of turning the male characters’ rage and violence into a tragicomic opera buffa, a stylized performance of endangered pride.

From New York Times • Mar. 26, 2020

It has more in common with Mozart’s opera buffa than with “Days of Our Lives.”

From Washington Post • Jul. 16, 2015

Berlusconi turned it into opera buffa, was in office longer than any other Italian Prime Minister, and ended up in court.

From The New Yorker • Jun. 22, 2015

Do you know what that confounded fellow Seeau said here?—that my opera buffa had been hissed at Munich!

From The Letters of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Volume 01 by Nohl, Ludwig