| 释义 |
drama|ˈdrɑːmə|
Also 6 drame, 7 dramma.
[a. late L. drāma drama, play (Ausonius), a. Gr. δρᾶµα deed, action, play, esp. tragedy, n. of action from δρᾶν to do, act, perform. In earliest use in form drame as in Fr. (1707 in Hatz.-Darm.).]
1. a. A composition in prose or verse, adapted to be acted upon a stage, in which a story is related by means of dialogue and action, and is represented with accompanying gesture, costume, and scenery, as in real life; a play.
1515Barclay Egloges iv. (1570) C vj/1 Such rascolde drames promoted by Thais, Bacchus, Licoris, or yet by Thestalis. 1616B. Jonson Epigr. cxii, I cannot for the stage a drama lay, Tragic or comic. 1636Heywood Loves Mistresse Ded., Neither are Dramma's of this nature so despicable. 1641Milton Ch. Govt. ii. Introd., The Scripture also affords us a divine pastoral drama in the Song of Solomon. 1670R. Lassels Voy. Italy i. (1698) 140 (Stanf.) The several Opera's or Musical Dramata are acted and sung. 1795Mason Ch. Mus. i. 24 Their Tragic Dramas..being usually accompanied by Instruments. 1852Hallam Lit. Ess., E. European Drama 2 The Orfeo of Politian..the earliest represented drama, not of a religious nature, in a modern language.
b. Theatr. = melodrama 1.
1895G. B. Shaw Our Theatres in Nineties (1932) I. 106 After the exasperatingly bad acting one constantly sees at the theatres where high comedy and ‘drama’ prevail, it is a relief to see even simple work creditably done. 1947― Shaw on Theatre (1958) 277 To him drama meant melodrama, its technical sense on the stage.
2. With the: The dramatic branch of literature; the dramatic art.
1661Middleton's Mayor of Queenborough Pref. Wks. (Bullen) II. 3 His drollery yields to none the English drama did ever produce. 1711Addison Spect. No. 13 ⁋5 The received Rules of the Drama. 1727Pope, etc. Art of Sinking xvi. Wks. 1757 VI. 219 (Stanf.) The Drama, which makes so great and so lucrative a part of Poetry. 1857H. Reed Lect. Brit. Poets viii. 284 The true philosophy of the drama as an imaginative imitation of life. 1861M. Pattison Ess. I. 46 The lover of the Elizabethan drama.
3. A series of actions or course of events having a unity like that of a drama, and leading to a final catastrophe or consummation.
a1714J. Sharp Serm. I. xiii. (R.), It helps to adorn the great drama and contrivances of God's providence. 1775Mason Gray G.'s Poems 2 That peculiar part which he acted in the varied Drama of Society. 1796Burke Regic. Peace i. Wks. VIII. 78 The awful drama of Providence now acting on the moral theatre of the world. 1876E. Mellor Priesth. ii. 58 That great drama which was to culminate in the death of Christ.
Add:4. Dramatic quality or effect; colourfulness, excitement.
1930[see time-traveller s.v. time n. 60]. 1938L. MacNeice I crossed Minch i. v. 59 The hills to-day were monotonous, lacking in drama. 1941D. C. Peattie Road of Naturalist v. 71 Californian trees are mostly evergreen, and thereby without seasonal drama. 1963M. L. King Strength to Love vii. 56 The fact that he died at this particular time adds verve and drama to the story. 1984Sears Catal. 1985 Spring–Summer 1144 Balloon Shades add drama to your windows.
5. Special Comb. drama-documentary Broadcasting, (the medium of) dramatized documentary; = docudrama n.; freq. attrib.
1970N. Garnham in Bakewell & Garnham New Priesthood viii. 179 In the present climate..the documentary film-maker..is drawn towards the disputed territory of the *drama-documentary. 1984K. Amis Stanley & Women i. 21 One of those drama-documentaries about life in our hospitals today. 1989Movie xxxiii. 35/2 It had..a political attitude which I suppose can be described as left-wing. The people running the drama-documentary department..thought it was unnecessary to the writing and a kind of conceit.
▸ drama queen n. a person who overreacts to a minor setback or who is prone to exaggeratedly dramatic behaviour; (also) a person who thrives on being the centre of attention.
1923Washington Post 10 Dec. 14/4 If he is thwarted in his effort to enjoy them, he may either go to the dogs or the *drama queens, become short-tempered, sullen, grouchy and eventually feel that, in a way he is a failure. 1987Chicago Tribune (Nexis) 25 June 11 e, The two founding Durans still like to call their front man a ‘drama queen’. 2004J. Wilson Diamond Girls 6 Oh for God's sake, stop being such a drama queen! The whole world doesn't revolve around you and your boyfriend. |