pantomime

¹pan·to·mime

noun \ˈpan-tə-ˌmīm\

Definition of PANTOMIME

1

: pantomimist

2

a : an ancient Roman dramatic performance featuring a solo dancer and a narrative chorus b : any of various dramatic or dancing performances in which a story is told by expressive bodily or facial movements of the performers c : a British theatrical entertainment of the Christmas season based on a nursery tale and featuring topical songs, tableaux, and dances

3

a : conveyance of a story by bodily or facial movements especially in drama or dance b : the art or genre of conveying a story by bodily movements only

— pan·to·mim·ic \ˌpan-tə-ˈmi-mik\ adjective

Examples of PANTOMIME

1. In the game of charades, one player uses pantomime to represent a word or phrase that the other players have to try to guess.
2. We saw pantomimes at the fair.
3. a ballet that is part dance and part pantomime

Origin of PANTOMIME

Latin pantomimus, from pant- + mimus mime

First Known Use: 1589

Related to PANTOMIME

Synonyms: gesticulation, mime, gesture, sign, signal

Related Words: beck, beckon, flourish, shrug, wave; body language, posture; indication, motion; sign language

see all synonyms and antonyms

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Other Performing Arts Terms

diva, dramaturgy, loge, prestidigitation, proscenium, supernumerary, zany

Rhymes with PANTOMIME

access time, aftertime, anytime, beforetime, Bettelheim, borrowed time, central time, Christmastime, common time, dinnertime, double prime, double-time, drop a dime, eastern time, elapsed time, Father Time, harvesttime, Hildesheim, in jig time, just-in-time, Kaffir lime, lemon thyme, local time, lysozyme, Mannerheim, maritime, monorhyme, mountain time, nursery rhyme, on a dime, overtime, Pappenheim, paradigm, question time, released time, running time, soda lime, standard time, summertime, take one's time, vowel rhyme, wintertime