variations on a theme
Americanplural noun
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multiple performances, statements, products, etc., that are essentially the same with minor differences.
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Music. a composition or series of compositions in which a relatively simple melody or theme is introduced, followed by a series of variations that develop the theme using changes in key, rhythm, ornamentation, or any of various other elements.
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.
Beethoven’s 33 variations on a theme by a certain businessman named Diabelli seems tailor-made for Tharp.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2025
Displayed in the home of art adviser Cheryl Numark, who ran downtown’s Numark Gallery from 1995 to 2006, the canvases seem to offer near-infinite variations on a theme.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 13, 2023
The biggest NFT series tend to be procedurally generated cartoons offering variations on a theme: a monkey with sunglasses, a monkey with a gold chain necklace, and so on.
From The Verge ● Jun. 8, 2022
After years of playing variations on a theme of Black masculinity, Williams gave one of his most haunted and nuanced performances in this pulpy, allegorical horror series.
From New York Times ● Sep. 7, 2021
No kind of crazy breakthroughs, just variations on a theme: pigs with brain maps that resemble St. Louis, my couple for Noelle joined by the sweeping bridge, a family of metropolises.
From "It’s Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini
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.
