n.
- a sensational dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and exciting events.
▸behaviour or events resembling melodrama.
- historical a play interspersed with songs and orchestral music accompanying the action.
Derivative
- melodramatist n.
- melodramatize
or melodramatise v.
Etymology
C19: from Fr. mélodrame, from Gk melos ‘music’ + Fr. drame ‘drama’.
