theater

American  

[thee-uh-ter, theeuh-] / ˈθi ə tər, ˈθiə- /

Or theatre

noun

1. a building, part of a building, or outdoor area for housing dramatic performances or stage entertainments, or for showing movies.

2. the audience at a theatrical performance or movie.

   The whole theater was weeping.

3. a theatrical or acting company.

4. a room or hall, fitted with tiers of seats rising like steps, used for lectures, surgical demonstrations, etc..

   Students crowded into the operating theater.

5. the theater, dramatic performances as a branch of art; the field or discipline of staged drama.

   an actress devoted to the theater.

6. Often the theater dramatic works collectively, as of literature, a nation, or an author.

   the theater of Ibsen.

7. the quality or effectiveness of dramatic performance: bad theater;

   good theater;

   bad theater;

   pure theater.

8. a place of dramatic action, especially during a war.

   the Pacific theater during World War II.

   Synonyms:

   stage, site, arena

9. a public display of action or speech that gives a false impression of accomplishing or promising something, merely for the sake of appearances (often used in combination): Public health experts have said that the time and money spent on cleaning may be unnecessary hygiene theater. Forget all his blustering about doing what's best for our city—it's just theater to please his union masters and protect his political base.

   Washington D.C.'s Metro transit system has instituted random bag searches, and many travelers are just as unhappy about the security theater on the train as in the airport.

   Public health experts have said that the time and money spent on cleaning may be unnecessary hygiene theater.

   Companies need to go beyond diversity theater and commit to long-term, concrete metrics for change.

   Forget all his blustering about doing what's best for our city—it's just theater to please his union masters and protect his political base.

10. a natural formation of land rising by steps or gradations.

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Pronunciation

Theater, an early Middle English borrowing from French, originally had its primary stress on the second syllable: . As with many early French borrowings ( beauty, carriage, marriage ), the stress moved to the first syllable, in conformity with a common English pattern of stress, and this pattern remains the standard one for theater today: . A pronunciation with stress on the second syllable and the vowel , as or sometimes is characteristic chiefly of a nonstandard regional pronunciation in the United States that may be perceived as uneducated.

Other Word Forms

• nontheater adjective
• pretheater adjective

Etymology

Origin of theater

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English theatre, from Latin theātrum, from Greek théātron “seeing place, theater,” equivalent to theā-, stem of theâsthai “to view” + -tron suffix denoting means or place

Explanation

If you are sitting in a crowd of people watching actors on a stage, you're probably in a theater. If the performance is projected on a large screen, you're in a movie theater. The Greek word for theater (theatron) comes from the verb theasthai, meaning “behold.” You are likely to behold a play or a film inside a theater. If you've dedicated your life to theater, you are probably an actor, director or playwright. Remember when you yelled “fire!” in a crowded theater and got arrested? That wasn't funny.

Example Sentences

After a lengthy attempt to make it in the theater in Chicago, he gave up and landed at Starbucks.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026

Batson already places extraordinary weight on the quick instincts of trial judges and the exactitude of trial lawyers in the compressed theater of jury selection.

From Slate • Apr. 10, 2026

"You've seen the... industry reinvest in itself, focus on creating even more grand and exciting experiences at the theater, and you're starting to see audiences come back, particularly younger audiences," he said.

From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026

When “The Drama” prioritizes grace over judgment in the temple of the movie theater, people will listen.

From Salon • Apr. 9, 2026

Although, in a weird ironic twist, Abraham Lincoln would sign the document that would create the Secret Service right before he left for the theater tonight.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

Related Words

• amphitheater
• arena
• auditorium
• cinema
• concert hall
• drama
• hall
• house
• movie
• movie house
• opera house
• playhouse
• room
• scene
• site
• theatre