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.

melodrama (countable and uncountable, plural melodramas or melodramata)

1. (archaic, uncountable) A kind of drama having a musical accompaniment to intensify the effect of certain scenes.
2. (countable) A drama abounding in romantic sentiment and agonizing situations, with a musical accompaniment only in parts which are especially thrilling or pathetic. In opera, a passage in which the orchestra plays a somewhat descriptive accompaniment, while the actor speaks

   the melodrama in the grave digging scene of Beethoven's "Fidelio".

   • 1956, Delano Ames, chapter 9, in Crime out of Mind‎:

     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.

3. (uncountable, figuratively, colloquial) Any situation or action which is blown out of proportion.

From Ancient Greek μέλος (mélos)

melodrama n (definite singular melodramaet, indefinite plural melodrama or melodramaer, definite singular melodramaene)

1. a melodrama

• “melodrama” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From Ancient Greek μέλος (mélos)

melodrama n (definite singular melodramaet, indefinite plural melodrama, definite plural melodramaa)

1. a melodrama

• “melodrama” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• Rhymes: -ama

melodrama m (plural melodramas)

1. melodrama (romantic drama)
2. (figuratively) melodrama (any situation or action which is blown out of proportion)

• IPA^(key): /mêlodraːma/
• Hyphenation: me‧lo‧dra‧ma

mȅlodrāma f (Cyrillic spelling ме̏лодра̄ма)

1. melodrama

melodrama m (plural melodramas)

1. melodrama