drama

noun

ˈdrä-mə How to pronounce drama (audio)
Definition of dramanext
1
as in theater
the public performance of plays he has been interested in drama from the first time he ever saw a play

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in play
a written work in which the story is told through speech and action that is intended to be acted out on stage wrote a police drama that really captured the speech of cops and criminals

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of drama Day seven ties it all together, starting with a language class built around K-Pop lyrics and K-drama scripts. — Rachel Chang, Travel + Leisure, 6 Aug. 2026 The subtle crime drama is filled with locations and characters that evoke the city’s rich history, documenting the passage of time while exploring what made its past eras so great. — Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 6 Aug. 2026 Settling is billed as a contemporary relationship series that is both comedy and drama. — Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 6 Aug. 2026 The drama didn’t end there; while exiting the ride with the fox, one of the employees tripped but quickly regained her balance and the fox. — Kelli Bender, PEOPLE, 6 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for drama
Recent Examples of Synonyms for drama
  1. theater
  2. play
  3. stage
  4. musical
  5. production
  6. dramatization
  7. entertainment
  8. comedy
Noun
  • Plus, two beloved musical-theater greats, Norbert Leo Butz and Amber Iman, are about to enter the show on Broadway.
    — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 4 Aug. 2026
  • American soldiers fighting in the Mediterranean theater were sent there on leave during WWII.
    — Elise Taylor, Vanity Fair, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of theater
Noun
  • Swavely said in an interview that the play attempts to present Helen’s perspective in the story, reimagining her as a mail-order bride and giving her a voice and agency in her own fate.
    — Benjamin Carr, AJC.com, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Walker was carted off the field at training camp on Tuesday after going down following a pass rush play.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of play
Noun
  • The projects involved crew members from 60 different countries participating online while Annapurna’s performers and technicians operated the stage in Hyderabad.
    — Hannah Abraham, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2026
  • Wielding his cherry Gibson guitar, Simpson reportedly came to the stage without any announcement from the band, helping to extend the song into a dynamic, nearly seven-minute psychedelic blues jam.
    — Marissa R. Moss, Rolling Stone, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of stage
Noun
  • Oscar winner Moore plays a shy woman who is unexpectedly cast in a local production of an original musical.
    — Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 4 Aug. 2026
  • This placed it more in the category of a new musical, which also meant needing to educate Broadway audiences about the subculture.
    — Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 22 July 2026
Definition of musical
Noun
  • Ford has sold out its Maverick production run for multiple years in a row, accordingly, Drury said.
    — Michael Ballaban, CNN Money, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Over in the post-production room, one of the clearest examples of that evolving creative process came in during the edits and music supervision, where even individual sequences were still finding their identity as the show came together.
    — Deadline, Deadline, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of production
Noun
  • With each new season, there has been backlash to creative choices made in the dramatizations of these true crime stories.
    — Savannah Walsh, Vanity Fair, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Jacobsen wrote a 2024 dramatization, based on dozens of interviews, of how nuclear war would unfold; this is her bioterrorism sequel.
    — Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 29 July 2026
Definition of dramatization
Noun
  • This starts with maintenance and includes brand-new interiors — everything from seats to sidewalls and inflight entertainment — to keep fliers happy.
    — Maureen O'Hare, CNN Money, 8 Aug. 2026
  • His Marina del Rey company LaTerra Development recently completed a 575-unit complex along the 5 Freeway near the Burbank MetroLink station that caters to tenants in the entertainment industry.
    — Roger Vincent, Los Angeles Times, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of entertainment
Noun
  • Gabriel Jarret, Michelle Meyrink, Jon Gries, William Atherton and Robert Prescott also starred in the comedy.
    — Kelly Allen, PEOPLE, 9 Aug. 2026
  • While One Night Only is intended as a romantic-comedy, there are some obvious dystopian undertones that audiences can’t ignore.
    — Glenn Garner, Deadline, 8 Aug. 2026
Definition of comedy

Browse Nearby Words

dram
drama
dramas
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Drama.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/drama. Accessed 12 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on drama

Nglish: Translation of drama for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about drama

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gnomic

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Aug. 7

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
fridge-magnet-letters
Drop a Letter Quiz August 2026 Drop a letter from a word to make a totally diffe...
See All