opus
Americannoun
plural
opuses, opera-
a musical composition.
-
one of the compositions of a composer, usually numbered according to the order of publication.
-
a literary work or composition, as a book: op.
Have you read her latest opus?
noun
-
an artistic composition, esp a musical work
-
(often capital) (usually followed by a number) a musical composition by a particular composer, generally catalogued in order of publication
Beethoven's opus 61 is his violin concerto
Etymology
Origin of opus
1695–1705; < Latin: work, labor, a work
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.
“Top Gun: Maverick,” perhaps the ultimate military movie in terms of tone, character and Tough Life Lessons, was the highest-grossing film in the Tom Cruise opus, and it’s OK that you’ve rewatched it three times.
Recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra, and featuring multiple arrangements from Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Shaw, it's a radical, rebellious operatic opus that sounds like nothing else in the pop sphere.
From BBC
Her first self-described opus was a collection of poems, “Rhyming Cats,” before she moved on to a morality puppet play featuring a ghost and an “expose of false narratives.”
From Los Angeles Times
The dictionary is Garner’s magnum opus, as essential to attorneys as Gray’s Anatomy is to physicians.
From Los Angeles Times
When Anni Albers published her theoretical magnum opus “On Weaving” in 1965, she was already lamenting the loss of our tactile sensibilities, which have undeniably worsened in the digital era.
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.
