period piece

Definition of period piece

: a work (as of literature, art, furniture, cinema, or music) whose special value lies in its evocation of a historical period

Examples of period piece in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Another period piece débuting this month is, by contrast, a regurgitation of an American nightmare. — Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, "The Search for Kindred Spirits in “We Are Who We Are,” on HBO," 28 Sep. 2020 Heck, Enola even reads newspapers to help crack codes, which if nothing else establishes this as a period piece. — Brian Lowry, CNN, "'Enola Holmes' showcases Millie Bobby Brown as Sherlock's brilliant sister," 22 Sep. 2020 Sarah Paulson plays the title character in this period piece about her time at Lucia State Hospital in this prequel to the 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. — Lynette Rice, EW.com, "Ratched producer explains how they brought pop culture's worst nurse to the small screen," 18 Sep. 2020 The period piece also stars Killing Eve’s Fiona Shaw, Gemma Jones, James McArdle and Alec Secareanu. — Alexia Fernandez, PEOPLE.com, "Kate Winslet Reveals She & Saoirse Ronan Choreographed Ammonite Sex Scenes: We Felt 'Really Safe'," 27 Aug. 2020 Voters should leave a slot for The Plot Against America, a chilling and never-more-timely period piece about a country destroying itself from within. — Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, "Emmys 2020: Who should be nominated," 22 June 2020 The low-budget film was a distinct change of pace for Scanlen after two high-profile and very American projects, HBO's miniseries Sharp Objects and Greta Gerwig's major-studio period piece. — Tyler Aquilina, EW.com, "How Babyteeth finds the 'duality of humor and pain' in a teen cancer story," 18 June 2020 Though this is a highly specific period piece, Shirley’s claustrophobia resonates loudly in 2020, especially because Decker renders it with inimitable panache. — David Sims, The Atlantic, "An Unconventional Biopic About a Horror Master," 8 June 2020 The list includes classic period pieces, musicals, animated stories for kids and a few Easter-adjacent films. — Weldon B. Johnson, azcentral, "Here are a dozen Easter movies to watch while staying home with your family," 9 Apr. 2020

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

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Last Updated

4 Oct 2020

Cite this Entry

“Period piece.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/period%20piece. Accessed 23 Oct. 2020.

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