melodrama

See also: Melodrama

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛləˌdɹɑːmə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

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^[1]:

     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.

Derived terms

• melodramatic
• melodramatics
• melodramatist
• melodramatize

Translations

romantic drama

• Arabic: مِيلُودْرَامَا f (miludrāmā)
• Armenian: մելոդրամա (hy) (melodrama)
• Belarusian: меладра́ма f (mjeladráma)
• Bulgarian: мелодра́ма f (melodráma)
• Catalan: melodrama m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 情節劇 / 情节剧 (qíngjiéjù)

• Czech: melodram m
• Esperanto: melodramo (eo)
• Finnish: melodraama (fi)
• French: mélodrame (fr) m
• Georgian: მელოდრამა (melodrama)
• German: Melodrama (de) n
• Greek: μελόδραμα (el) n (melódrama)
• Hebrew: מלודרמה
• Hindi: नाटक (hi) m (nāṭak)
• Indonesian: melodrama (id)
• Italian: melodramma (it) m
• Japanese: メロドラマ (ja) (merodorama), メロ (mero)
• Korean: 멜로드라마 (mellodeurama), 멜로 (ko) (mello)
• Macedonian: мелодра́ма f (melodráma)
• Malay: ميلودراما (melodrama)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: melodrama n

  Nynorsk: melodrama n

• Polish: melodramat (pl) m
• Portuguese: melodrama m
• Romanian: melodramă (ro) f
• Russian: мелодра́ма (ru) f (melodráma)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: мелодрама f

  Roman: melodrama (sh) f

• Slovak: melodráma f
• Spanish: melodrama (es) f
• Tagalog: himigdula
• Turkish: melodram (tr)
• Ukrainian: мелодра́ма f (melodráma)

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [mə.luˈðɾa.mə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [mə.loˈðɾa.mə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [me.loˈðɾa.ma]

Noun

melodrama m (plural melodrames)

1. melodrama (a drama abounding in romantic sentiment and agonizing situations)
   • 2020 August 11, Mònica Planas Callol, “Secrets i prejudicis a l’americana [American-style secrets and prejudices]”, in Ara‎^[2]:

     Si necessiteu un bon melodrama familiar, d’aquells on s’intenten guardar les aparences però en què totes les generacions de protagonistes acaben caient en una espiral de secrets, mentides, retrets, llàgrimes i desesperació, la vostra sèrie és Little fires everywhere, a Amazon Prime Video.

     If you need a good family melodrama, one of those that tries to keep appearances but in which all generations of protagonists end up falling into a spiral of secrets, lies, reproach, tears, and desperation, then your show is Little Fires Everywhere, on Amazon Prime Video.

2. melodrama (any situation or action which is blown out of proportion)

Derived terms

• melodramàtic

Related terms

• drama

Further reading

• “melodrama” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “melodrama”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
• “melodrama” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “melodrama” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μέλος (mélos) .

Noun

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

1. a melodrama

References

• “melodrama” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μέλος (mélos) .

Noun

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

1. a melodrama

References

• “melodrama” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /me.loˈdɾɐ̃.mɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /me.loˈdɾɐ̃.mɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /me.loˈdɾɐ.ma/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mɛ.lɔˈdɾɐ.mɐ/ [mɛ.lɔˈðɾɐ.mɐ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mɛ.lɔˈdɾɐ.mɐ/ [mɛ.lɔˈðɾɐ.mɐ]
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /mɛ.lɔˈdɾa.mɐ/ [mɛ.lɔˈðɾa.mɐ]

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -ɐmɐ, (Brazil) -ɐ̃mɐ
• Hyphenation: me‧lo‧dra‧ma

Noun

melodrama m (plural melodramas)

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

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

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

Noun

mȅlodrāma f (Cyrillic spelling ме̏лодра̄ма)

1. melodrama

Declension

Declension of melodrama

	singular	plural
nominative	melodrama	melodrame
genitive	melodrame	melodrama
dative	melodrami	melodramama
accusative	melodramu	melodrame
vocative	melodramo	melodrame
locative	melodrami	melodramama
instrumental	melodramom	melodramama

Spanish

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μέλος (mélos) and Ancient Greek δρᾶμα (drâma).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /meloˈdɾama/ [me.loˈð̞ɾa.ma]
• Rhymes: -ama
• Syllabification: me‧lo‧dra‧ma

Noun

melodrama m (plural melodramas)

1. melodrama

Derived terms

• melodramático

Related terms

• drama

Further reading

• “melodrama”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10