vaudevillian

American  

[vawd-vil-yuhn, vohd-, vaw-duh-] / vɔdˈvɪl yən, voʊd-, ˌvɔ də- /

noun

1. Also vaudevillist. a person who writes for or performs in vaudeville.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of vaudeville.

Etymology

Origin of vaudevillian

First recorded in 1925–30; vaudeville + -ian

Example Sentences

Sabrina Carpenter was the night's biggest star - opening the show with a cheeky wink, a phalanx of Beefeaters and a vaudevillian mash-up of Espresso, Bed Chem and... er, Rule, Britannia.

From BBC • Mar. 1, 2025

The book by Jay Thompson, Marshall Barer and Dean Fuller, which infuses vaudevillian mirth into “The Princess and the Pea,” has been updated by Amy Sherman-Palladino to be more in keeping with contemporary sensitivities.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 16, 2024

Later, “Dance of the Reed Flutes” becomes a sleazy, vaudevillian show tune sung by an anthropomorphic Rat King to his loyal subjects, a group of baying rodents dressed like SS officers.

From New York Times • Dec. 20, 2023

He also played a hard-boiled radio station owner in “Memphis” and showed fine vaudevillian chops in “On the Twentieth Century” singing “Five Zeros,” an ode to the joys of money.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 15, 2023

They were the legs of a once quite widely acknowledged public beauty, a vaudevillian, a dancer, a very light dancer.

From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger