melodrama
/ˈmɛləˌdɹɑːmə/
melodrama noun: a kind of drama having a musical accompaniment to intensify the effect of certain scenes.
Noun
melodrama (countable and uncountable, plural melodramas or melodramata)
- A kind of drama having a musical accompaniment to intensify the effect of certain scenes.
- A drama abounding in romantic sentiment and agonizing situations, with a musical accompaniment only in parts which are especially thrilling or pathetic.
- A passage in which the orchestra plays a somewhat descriptive accompaniment, while the actor speaks.
- The grave-digging scene in Beethoven's “Fidelio” has much melodrama.
- Rudolf was the bold, bad Baron of traditional melodrama. Irene was young, as pretty as a picture, fresh from a music academy in England. He was the scion of an ancient noble family; she an orphan without money or friends.1956, Delano Ames, chapter 9, in Crime out of Mind
- Any situation or action which is blown out of proportion.
melodrama meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
melodrama in Hindi
- romantic drama
- नाटक nāṭak
melodrama in Tamil
- உணர்ச்சிமிக்க இன்பமுடிவு நாடகம், மிகை உணர்ச்சி நாடகம்
melodrama in Marathi
- मेलोड्रामा, मेलोड्रमा
melodrama in Urdu
- میلوڈراما
More languagesFewer languages
- melodrama in Bengali
- অতিরিক্ত আবেগময় নাটক, চলচ্চিত্র
- melodrama in Telugu
- మెలోడ్రామా
- melodrama in Malayalam
- അതിഭാവുകത്വം നിറഞ്ഞ നാടകം, അത്ഭുതകഥാനടനം
- melodrama in Kannada
- ಗೀತ ನಾಟಕ, ಅತಿರೇಕ ನಾಟಕ, ಭಾವಾತಿರೇಕ ನಾಟಕ, ಭಾವೋದ್ರೇಕದ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ರಚನೆ
- melodrama in Punjabi
- ਮੇਲੋਡ੍ਰਾਮਾ, ਮੈਲੋਡ੍ਰਾਮਾ, ਮੇਲੋਡਰਾਮਾ
- melodrama in Gujarati
- મેલોડ્રામા
- melodrama in Odia
- ମେଲୋଡ୍ରାମା
- melodrama in Nepali
- मेलोड्रामा, मेलोड्राम
- melodrama in Tagalog
- himigdula
- melodrama in Arabic
- مِيلُودْرَامَا miludrāmā
- melodrama in Indonesian
- melodrama
Examples of melodrama in a sentence
- La Battaglia di Legnano is a patriotic melodrama with a love triangle theme included.
- In a reference to a hokey stage melodrama of the nineteenth century, he muttered: “What’s next week?
- "The Dairy Maid," an alleged song, is really a recitation; a sort of tabloid sentimental melodrama.
Forms of melodrama
| plural | melodramas |
|---|---|
| plural | melodramata |
Origin of melodrama
From French mélodrame, the second element refashioned by analogy with drama; ultimately from Ancient Greek μέλος (mélos, “limb”, “member”, “song”, “tune”, “melody”) + δρᾶμα (drâma, “deed”, “theatrical act”). Compare melodrame. Cognate to German Melodram and Spanish melodrama.
Words formed from melodrama
Questions about melodrama
- What does melodrama mean?
- Melodrama means a kind of drama having a musical accompaniment to intensify the effect of certain scenes.
- What is melodrama in Hindi?
- Melodrama in Hindi is नाटक (nāṭak). See Melodrama meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is melodrama?
- Melodrama is a noun.
- How do you pronounce melodrama?
- Melodrama is pronounced /ˈmɛləˌdɹɑːmə/.
- What is the plural of melodrama?
- The plural of melodrama is melodramas.
Words near melodrama in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: melodrama (page history and authors); melodrama (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); melodrama (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); melodrama (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); melodrama (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); melodrama (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); melodrama (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); melodrama (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); melodrama (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); melodrama (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); melodrama (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); melodrama (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-melodrama.wav.
Cite this entry: “melodrama.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/melodrama. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.