dramatis personae

American  

[dram-uh-tis per-soh-nee, drah-muh-] / ˈdræm ə tɪs pərˈsoʊ ni, ˈdrɑ mə- /

noun

1. (used with a plural verb) the characters in a play.

2. (used with a singular verb) a list of the characters preceding the text of a play.

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dramatis personae British  

/ ˈdrɑːmətɪs pəˈsəʊnaɪ /

plural noun

1. the characters or a list of characters in a play or story

2. the main personalities in any situation or event

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dramatis personae Cultural  

1. A Latin expression for “cast of characters.” It means literally “the persons of the drama” and is occasionally used at the beginning of scripts for plays as the title of the list of characters.

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Discover More

In general, the “dramatis personae” are the participants in an event: “Winston Churchill, Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin were the dramatis personae at the Yalta Conference.”

Etymology

Origin of dramatis personae

1720–30; < Latin: characters of the play

Example Sentences

In one respect, the dramatis personae in Kananaskis helps.

From BBC • Jun. 14, 2025

She and the other dramatis personae of “Liarmouth” feel like they’ve just walked off a Waters set still in character; the narrative braids perspectives together across different locations in a way that resembles cinematic crosscutting.

From Los Angeles Times • May 23, 2022

I was sent an advanced proof of “The Last Bookseller” — due out in November — and highly recommend it, partly for Goodman’s portrait of a lost world, but also for its colorful dramatis personae.

From Washington Post • Sep. 28, 2021

The slippage isn’t always this Ovidian, but names circulate in ways that can frustrate a strict accounting of the dramatis personae.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 2, 2021

In the case of marrying, the dramatis personae include the person being married and the person doing the marrying.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Related Words

• list
• troupe