dramatic

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /drəˈmæt.ɪk/, US /drəˈmæt̬.ɪk/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin drāmaticus,^[2][3][4] from Greek dramatikós “pertaining to plays”, from Ancient Greek δρᾶμα (drâma), genitive drámatos.^[2][3] It is related to drama.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to acted drama: 1589 in the OED, the 1580s in Etymonline.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Full of action and striking display, fit for a drama, is from 1725.^[2][5] As a noun, a dramatic poet, it was used from 1646 but is obsolete,^[5] and dramatics, dramatic works or performances, is from 1684.^[5] Dramatic irony, understood by the audience but not by the characters, is recorded from 1907.^[2]

Timeline

• 1589 – of drama.^[5]
• 1646 – noun, a dramatist (obsolete).^[5]
• 1725 – striking.^[2][5]
• 1907 – dramatic irony.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Sudden and striking; very noticeable: a dramatic change.
2. Relating to drama or the theatre.
3. Full of emotion or action, like a play.
4. Exaggerated, as if acting.
5. (music) Of a singing voice, powerful and expressive.

Word family

• dramatically
• nondramatic
• overdramatic
• pseudodramatic
• semidramatic
• undramatic
• dramatic irony

Related words

• drama
• dramatize
• dramatist
• melodramatic

Usage notes

Dramatic, histrionic, melodramatic, stagy and theatrical all suggest acting or an emotional, often affected stage performance.^[6]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin