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vaudeville

[ vawd-vil, vohd-, vaw-duh- ]
/ ˈvɔd vɪl, ˈvoʊd-, ˈvɔ də- /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR vaudeville ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

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a person given to voluble, empty talk.
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Origin of vaudeville

1730–40; <French, shortened alteration of Middle French chanson du vau de Vire “song of the vale of Vire,” a valley of Calvados, France, noted for satirical folksongs

Words nearby vaudeville

vatu, Vauban, vauch, Vaucluse, Vaud, vaudeville, vaudevillian, Vaudois, Vaughan, Vaughan Williams, Vaughn
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to vaudeville

burlesque, theater, skit, show, revue

Example sentences from the Web for vaudeville

British Dictionary definitions for vaudeville

vaudeville
/ (ˈvəʊdəvɪl, ˈvɔː-) /

noun

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 centuryBrit name: music hall
a light or comic theatrical piece interspersed with songs and dances

Word Origin for vaudeville

C18: from French, from vaudevire satirical folk song, shortened from chanson du vau de Vire song of the valley of Vire, a district in Normandy where this type of song flourished
Collins 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

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.