n.1 a sensational dramatic piece with crude appeals to the emotions and usu. a happy ending.
2 the genre of drama of this type.
3 language, behaviour, or an occurrence suggestive of this.
4 hist. a play with songs interspersed and with orchestral music accompanying the action.
Derivatives:
melodramatic adj. melodramatically adv. melodramatist n. melodramatize v.tr. (also -ise).
Etymology: earlier melodrame f. F m{eacute}lodrame f. Gk melos music + F drame DRAMA