magnum opus
noun
Did you know?
You may recognize magnum (meaning "great") as a Latin word that shows up in altered forms in several English words, and perhaps you can also come up with a few words that are related to opus ("work"). Magnitude, magnanimous, opulent, and operate are some obvious relations of the two. Magnum opus, which entered English in the 18th century, retains the original Latin spelling and the literal meaning "great work." Although the term most often refers to literary, musical, or artistic productions, it has been used to describe many kinds of great works, including games, construction projects, and even surgical techniques.
Examples of magnum opus in a Sentence
The Editors, Robb Report, 28 Mar. 2024
Yet DuVernay, a filmmaker who’s nothing if not iconoclastic and daring, isn’t interested in crafting a cinematic version of a Wikipedia page, any more than Wilkerson was intent on solely detailing the state of our fractured nation in her groundbreaking 2021 magnum opus Caste.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 17 Jan. 2024
This affluent area on the island’s northern coast even served as inspiration for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s magnum opus, The Great Gatsby.
—Emma Reynolds, Robb Report, 20 Mar. 2024
Where to watch Safety Not Guaranteed: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
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Citizen Kane (1941)
Orson Welles' magnum opus is well remembered for its pioneering cinematography and ambitious plot structure.
—Robert English, EW.com, 25 Nov. 2023
In The Rise of Modern Chinese Thought, his magnum opus, Wang Hui, a scholar of Chinese language and literature at Tsinghua University, returns to the late-nineteenth-century thinkers who worked to reshape Chinese philosophy.
—Rana Mitter, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024
These are the best playoff debuts since the NFL-AFL merger aside from Love, including one that was barely 24 hours old when Love delivered his early-career magnum opus.
—Journal Sentinel, 17 Jan. 2024
Capote likened it to Proust’s Swann’s Way and referred to it as his magnum opus—this, from the man who had practically invented the non-fiction novel with 1965’s In Cold Blood.
—Lilah Ramzi, Vogue, 25 Jan. 2024
What there is instead is a brilliantly inventive magnum opus, according to our theater critic, Rod Stafford Hagwood.
—South Florida Sun Sentinel, Sun Sentinel, 11 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'magnum opus.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Magnum opus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/magnum%20opus. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
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magnum opus
noun
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