DRAMA


Meaning of DRAMA in English

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.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.