Antonyms for melodrama


Grammar : Noun
Spell : mel-uh-drah-muh, -dram-uh
Phonetic Transcription : ˈmɛl əˌdrɑ mə, -ˌdræm ə


Definition of melodrama

Origin :
  • 1784 (1782 as melo drame), "a stage-play in which songs were interspersed and music accompanied the action," from French mélodrame (18c.), from Greek melos "song" (see melody) + French drame "drama" (see drama). Meaning "a romantic and sensational dramatic piece with a happy ending" is from 1883, because this was often the form of the original melodramas. Also from French are Spanish melodrama, Italian melodramma, German melodram. Related: Melodramatize.
  • As in romance : noun fanciful story or narrative
  • As in bathos : noun sentimentality
  • As in soap opera : noun serial broadcast drama
  • As in sentimentality : noun sentimentalism
  • As in maudlinism : noun sentimentality
  • As in mawkishness : noun sentimentality
  • As in mushiness : noun sentimentality
  • As in sappiness : noun sentimentality
  • As in schmaltz : noun sentimentality
  • As in schmaltziness : noun sentimentality
  • As in sentimentalism : noun sentimentality
  • As in sloppiness : noun sentimentality
  • As in drama : noun theatrical piece; acting
  • As in drama : noun turmoil in real life
  • As in dramatization : noun drama
  • As in excitement : noun enthusiasm; incitement
Example sentences :
  • Yes, there was a fine scene when I went home that night, a Broadway melodrama.
  • Extract from : « The Flying Mercury » by Eleanor M. Ingram
  • Could any melodrama wish for a more appropriate mise-en-scne?
  • Extract from : « The Mask » by Arthur Hornblow
  • Staking all on high moments is melodrama with no comic relief.
  • Extract from : « The Good Housekeeping Marriage Book » by Various
  • I objected strongly to being treated as the villain of a melodrama.
  • Extract from : « Love Among the Chickens » by P. G. Wodehouse
  • We could hardly keep from laughing, it was so very like a melodrama.
  • Extract from : « Bidwell's Travels, from Wall Street to London Prison » by Austin Biron Bidwell
  • Angelo is pure melodrama; Marie Tudor is the melodrama of history.
  • Extract from : « A History of French Literature » by Edward Dowden
  • "We're to meet a man," Senesin said, with an air of melodrama.
  • Extract from : « The Unnecessary Man » by Gordon Randall Garrett
  • I sit, an audience, shedding crocodile tears at a melodrama.
  • Extract from : « Fantazius Mallare » by Ben Hecht
  • "I cannot avoid a touch of melodrama, you see," she confessed.
  • Extract from : « The Devil's Paw » by E. Phillips Oppenheim
  • In 1805 Lewis recast it into a melodrama, which he called Rugantino.
  • Extract from : « The Bravo of Venice » by Heinrich Zschokke

Synonyms for melodrama

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019