DictionaryAI

opera

noun
SayOP-uh-ruh/ˈɑp.ə.ɹə/UK/ˈɒp.ə.ɹə/

Pluraloperas, opere

6 meanings of opera

Practice

  1. 1
    nouncountable
    A dramatic work in which the story is told mainly through singing with instrumental music, sometimes including dance; also, the written score of such a work.

    The composer spent five years writing an opera based on a famous novel.

    The opera opened with a storm scene full of thunderous singing.

    UsageSay an opera by Verdi for one work, and go to the opera for an evening at a performance.

  2. 2
    art formnoununcountable
    The genre of sung dramatic stage works, and the art of composing them.

    Italian opera reached new heights during the nineteenth century.

    Few art forms demand as much from a singer as opera does.

    UsageNo a for the art form: a love of opera, a career in opera, Italian opera.

    Note

    The sense covers the craft of composing as well as the tradition, so a composer can write for opera without any particular piece in view.

  3. 3
    theater buildingnouncountable
    A building designed and equipped for the performance of operatic works; an opera house.

    The tram stops right in front of the opera, a grand stone building from the 1860s.

    Crowds gathered outside the opera before the evening performance.

    UsageAt the opera can mean in the building or at a performance. To make the building meaning clearer, use opera house.

    Note

    A building sense that hides inside a familiar phrase: at the opera can mean inside the house or at a performance, and often both at once. Robert W. Chambers's The Younger Set (1907) scorns "the insolent chatterers at the opera," where the place and its society matter more than the music.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Robert W. Chambers wrote The Younger Set. gutenberg.org
    • The Younger Set was first published in 1907. gutenberg.org
    • The novel contains the exact phrase quoted, spoken scornfully by Philip Selwyn about fashionable society. gutenberg.org
  4. 4
    dramatic fussnouncountable
    A showy, melodramatic, or unrealistic spectacle that resembles an opera in its excess and drama.

    The negotiation collapsed into an opera of accusations and dramatic walkouts.

    What should have been a simple meeting became an opera of egos and grand gestures.

    Similarmelodrama, circus, spectacle, farce

  5. 5
    performing groupnouncountable
    An organized company of singers, musicians, and crew dedicated to performing operatic works.

    The national opera announced an ambitious season of six productions.

    Funding cuts forced the regional opera to cancel its spring tour.

Less common meaning

  1. 6
    nounrare
    Plural of opus: numbered works by a composer, or creative works in general.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of opera apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

Oeuvre, opus, and ure are doublets of this word, which English borrowed straight from the identical Italian word.