bodice ripper

Definition of bodice ripper

: a historical or Gothic romance typically featuring scenes in which the heroine is subjected to violence

Examples of bodice ripper in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The emotional intensity reads as internal to the characters, that of a bildungsroman rather than the sensational projections of a bodice ripper. — Lidija Haas, The New Republic, "In Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Love is a Work of Art," 12 Feb. 2020 Interpreters have treated it as everything from a bodice ripper to a deep philosophical treatise. — Tony Adler, Chicago Reader, "Arts / Theater Anna Karenina, the love bug," 26 Feb. 2018 From Guillermo del Toro, this lavish love story between a mute cleaning woman, played by Sally Hawkins, and a scaly amphibian man, played by Doug Jones, is part of a grand tradition of human-monster cinematic bodice rippers. — Bruce Fretts, New York Times, "Would You Swipe Right on Amphibian Man From ‘The Shape of Water’?," 22 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bodice ripper.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about bodice ripper

Dictionary Entries near bodice ripper

Statistics for bodice ripper

Last Updated

20 Feb 2020

Cite this Entry

“Bodice ripper.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bodice%20ripper. Accessed 24 Feb. 2020.

WORD OF THE DAY

acumen

See Definitions and Examples »

Test Your Vocabulary

More Confusing Words—Quiz

The magician ______ moved the selected card to the top of the deck.

discretely discreetly

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.