dra ‧ ma W3 AC /ˈdrɑːmə $ ˈdrɑːmə, ˈdræmə/ BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ drama , ↑ dramatist ; verb : ↑ dramatize ; adjective : ↑ dramatic ]
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: Late Latin ; Origin: Greek , 'action, theater plays' , from dran 'to do' ]
1 . [uncountable and countable] a play for the theatre, television, radio etc, usually a serious one, or plays in general ⇨ comedy :
the great traditions of ancient Greek drama
a TV/television/radio drama
the award-winning TV drama ‘Prime Suspect’
a new drama series for Saturday nights
a drama critic
a courtroom drama (=one that takes place in a court of law)
a lavish costume drama (=one about events in a past century)
He plays a Russian spy in the comedy drama ‘Sleepers’.
2 . [uncountable] acting – used when talking about it as a subject to study or teach:
young actors coming out of drama school
our drama teacher
3 . [uncountable and countable] an exciting event or set of events, or the quality of being exciting:
Maggie’s life is always full of drama.
accidents, burst pipes, and other domestic dramas
a night of high drama (=very exciting events)
the drama of the moment
4 . make a drama out of something to become upset about a small problem and make it seem worse than it really is:
Brian always makes such a drama out of everything.
5 . drama queen a woman or ↑ homosexual man who tends to behave as if situations are worse than they really are – used to show disapproval
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + drama
▪ a TV/television/radio drama
The book has been made into a television drama.
▪ a costume drama (=about events in history, in which people wear costumes from that time)
a costume drama set in 17th century France
▪ a historical drama (=about events in the past)
She starred in a historical drama about Marie Antoinette.
▪ a medical/hospital drama (=about events in a hospital)
He played a doctor in the US medical drama 'ER'.
▪ a crime drama (=about a crime or crimes)
'American Gangster' is a crime drama set in 1970s New York.
▪ a courtroom drama (=about events in a court)
The lawyer and sleuth Perry Mason was the hero of 82 courtroom dramas.
▪ a romantic drama (=about a romance)
It is a wartime romantic drama.
▪ a comedy/tragic drama (=about funny/very sad events)
Martin Clunes is to star in a new comedy drama.
▪ a police/cop drama (=about the police)
'The Bill' is a popular police drama.
▪ a three-part/six-part etc drama (=having three/six etc programmes)
It’s a new four-part crime drama starting on Monday night.
▪ a Greek drama (=a play from Ancient Greece)
the tragic Greek drama, 'Oedipus'
■ drama + NOUN
▪ a drama series/serial (=a number of programmes with the same characters)
It is one of the longest-running drama series on Japanese television.