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Definition of soliloquy
soliloquies
1 : the act of talking to oneself
2 : a poem, discourse, or utterance of a character in a drama that has the form of a monologue or gives the illusion of being a series of unspoken reflections
From the M-W Editors
Examples of soliloquy in a Sentence
But if it is hard for the theatergoer to catch all the meanings in Macbeth's rippling soliloquies, then how much harder is that task when Shakespeare seems unable or unwilling to unpack his obscurities. —James Wood, New Republic, 26 June 2000
A funny thing happened to Billy Joel on the way to the recording studio recently. “I was walking down the street,” he says, “and there was this big guy with long, stringy, greasy hair just talking to the air—screaming, actually. He was in the middle of this angry soliloquy when he looked at me, stopped and said in a regular voice, ‘Hey, Billy, how ya doin'?’ And then he went right back into his tirade.” —Elysa Gardner, Rolling Stone, 10 June 1993
After Allen left, what became known as “The Tonight Show” fell into the hands of a genuine original. Jack Paar was an eminently normal-looking man, a former G.I. entertainer who planted himself at a desk instead of scampering around like Allen had. He would begin his shows in a low, well-modulated voice, exuding a dangerous calm. Then, periodically, but never predictably, he would lurch into disgruntled, pathetic soliloquies, decrying some indignity visited upon him by the network or the press. —Alex Ross, New Republic, 8 Nov. 1993
Recent Examples of soliloquy from the Web
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Bruce, Helen and both the middle and oldest Alison all get to sing exciting soliloquies.
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Oh's extensive solo emerged as a kind of set piece in itself, her soliloquy unencumbered by strict meter and hovering mostly in the dark, lower registers of her instrument.
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His cool, calculating king, who reveals his true self only in the soliloquys that close many of the play’s scenes, sends chills up your spine with his coldblooded villainy.
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Rapper Dudley Perkins, Muldrow's musical collaborator on previous ventures, at one point took to the stage to offer a short soliloquy that was nearly impossible to decipher due, once again, to a garble of overblown sound.
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Keepers ends the first half of the show with a lengthy, poetic, oblique soliloquy about art and science and freedom and discipline.
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One example: Popovich's six-minute soliloquy on Trump, delivered just after the November election.
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Every three to four minutes, his ex-wife's lead attorney Bobby Newman would object to Jones' soliloquies.
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To be sure, Augustin Daly, the playwright, was generous with the melodrama: Characters deliver expositional soliloquies, and emotions run deep and syrupy.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'soliloquy'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Soliloquy vs. monologue
Soliloquy and monologue cover very similar ground, but there are some important differences between the two words. Soliloquy (from the Latin solus “alone” and loqui “to speak”) at its most basic level refers to the act of talking to oneself, and more specifically denotes the solo utterance of an actor in a drama. It tends to be used of formal or literary expressions, such as Hamlet’s soliloquies. Monologue (from Greek monos "alone" and legein "to speak") may also refer to a dramatic scene in which an actor soliloquizes, but it has other meanings as well. To a stand-up comedian, monologue denotes a comic routine. To a bored listener, it signifies a long speech uttered by someone who has too much to say.
Origin and Etymology of soliloquy
Late Latin soliloquium, from Latin solus alone + loqui to speak
Other Performing Arts Terms
SOLILOQUY Defined for English Language Learners
soliloquy
playDefinition of soliloquy for English Language Learners
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: a long, usually serious speech that a character in a play makes to an audience and that reveals the character's thoughts
Learn More about soliloquy
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See words that rhyme with soliloquy Spanish Central: Translation of soliloquy Nglish: Translation of soliloquy for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of soliloquy for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about soliloquy
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