theatrical

[thee-a-tri-kuhl]

adjective

1. of or relating to the theater or dramatic presentations.

   theatrical performances.

2. suggestive of the theater or of acting; artificial, pompous, spectacular, or extravagantly histrionic.

   a theatrical display of grief.

   Synonyms: extravagant, stagy, melodramatic, exaggerated

noun

1. theatricals,

   1. dramatic performances, now especially as given by amateurs.

   2. artificial or histrionic actions.

2. a professional actor.

   a family of renowned theatricals.

theatrical

/ θɪˈætrɪkəl /

adjective

1. of or relating to the theatre or dramatic performances

2. exaggerated and affected in manner or behaviour; histrionic

Other Word Forms

• theatricality noun
• theatricalness noun
• theatrically adverb
• half-theatrical adjective
• nontheatric adjective
• nontheatrical adjective
• nontheatrically adverb
• overtheatrical adjective
• overtheatrically adverb
• overtheatricalness noun
• quasi-theatrical adjective
• quasi-theatrically adverb
• semitheatric adjective
• semitheatrical adjective
• semitheatrically adverb
• untheatric adjective
• untheatrical adjective
• untheatrically adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of theatrical¹

1550–60; < Late Latin theātric ( us ) < Greek theātrikós, equivalent to theā́tr ( on ) theater + -ikos -ic + -al ¹

Example Sentences

No play by Stoppard can be fully appreciated in a single theatrical outing.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“A nearly eight-hour drama about the Russian intelligentsia that received mixed reviews when it premiered in London in 2002, ‘The Coast of Utopia’ isn’t for the theatrical faint of heart,” cautioned Times critic McNulty.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He spun wordplay, philosophical debates and scientific principles into popular theatrical entertainment, landing a string of West End and Broadway hits, and won a best-screenplay Oscar for the smash Hollywood film “Shakespeare in Love.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

He followed it with a succession of intensely theatrical divertissements, often revolving around unexpected intellectual conceits or bizarre juxtapositions and featuring brilliant dialogue, puns, repartee, double meanings and misunderstandings.

Read more on BBC

It treats gift-giving not as a theatrical display of affection but an opportunity to serve one another.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• campy 
• comic 
• exaggerated 
• melodramatic 
• operatic 
• showy