vaudeville
theatrical entertainment consisting of a number of individual performances, acts, or mixed numbers, as by comedians, singers, dancers, acrobats, and magicians.: Compare variety (def. 9).
a theatrical piece of light or amusing character, interspersed with songs and dances.
a satirical cabaret song.
Origin of vaudeville
1Words Nearby vaudeville
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use vaudeville in a sentence
From the days of vaudeville until the dawn of color TV, a funny woman who wanted to tell jokes was faced with a brick wall—and not the kind you stood in front of at an improv comedy club.
At the start of the 20th century, vaudeville presented a wide variety of entertainment genres, and comedy—often in skits, often blended with singing, dancing, and novelty acts—was a big part of the draw.
The facts show Robinson to have been a force for positive change, Grant says, pointing to evidence such as the barrier-breaking in vaudeville.
‘The Mayor of Harlem’ celebrates Bill Robinson as dance superstar, as well as social activist | Celia Wren | May 21, 2021 | Washington PostRobinson’s vaudeville triumphs included performing at New York’s Palace Theatre — the summit of vaudeville prestige and the venue where, the story goes, he debuted his signature stair dance in 1918.
‘The Mayor of Harlem’ celebrates Bill Robinson as dance superstar, as well as social activist | Celia Wren | May 21, 2021 | Washington PostHis father spent years shuttling between jail cells and mental institutions, and his mother, a onetime vaudeville dancer named Aileen Davenport, abandoned him as a baby.
Actor Hal Holbrook, indelible portrayer of Mark Twain, dies at 95 | Adam Bernstein | February 2, 2021 | Washington Post
The odd (though beautiful) pair here is Daisy and Violet Hilton, conjoined twins who were a hit on the vaudeville circuit.
Fall Broadway Preview: 'This Is Our Youth,' Bradley Cooper as ‘The Elephant Man,' and More | Janice Kaplan | September 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTvaudeville was dead, Houdini was dead—he was off the radar.
His life as the child of a vaudeville couple was one-step above living in the circus—cheap hotels and rooming houses were home.
Joe created at Engel Stadium the intersection between vaudeville and baseball.
The Myth of Jackie Mitchell, the Girl Who Struck Out Ruth and Gehrig | Adam Doster | May 18, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTEvery election is a variation on the old vaudeville joke, "compared to what?"
For a long time he wrote vaudeville sketches over the name of Cursy.
Repertory Of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A -- Z | Anatole Cerfberr and Jules Franois ChristopheNo; only if you had told me that you wanted to come to the vaudeville to-night I could have got this box for you as well as he.
Camille (La Dame aux Camilias) | Alexandre Dumas, filsIn 1835 the marquise defended vaudeville entertainments against Lady Dudley, who said she could not endure them.
Repertory Of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A -- Z | Anatole Cerfberr and Jules Franois ChristopheHe came back warily, forgetting his English accent, which he had laboriously imitated in admiration of a certain vaudeville hero.
The Woman Gives | Owen JohnsonThe Doctor thought this a capital idea for a vaudeville, but poor enough in real life, and doubted my success.
Z. Marcas | Honore de Balzac
British Dictionary definitions for vaudeville
/ (ˈvəʊdəvɪl, ˈvɔː-) /
mainly US and Canadian variety entertainment consisting of short acts such as acrobatic turns, song-and-dance routines, animal acts, etc, popular esp in the early 20th century: Brit name: music hall
a light or comic theatrical piece interspersed with songs and dances
Origin of vaudeville
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for vaudeville
[ (vawd-vuhl, vaw-duh-vil) ]
Light theatrical entertainment, popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, consisting of a succession of short acts. A vaudeville show usually included comedians, singers, dancers, jugglers, trained animals, magicians, and the like.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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