Dramatic Meaning
/dɹəˈmætɪk/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjOf or relating to the drama.
adjStriking in appearance or effect.
Sentence Examples
Don't take that dramatic attitude all of a sudden.
In music or speaking, a pause is frequently used for dramatic effect.
The mountains provided a dramatic backdrop for our picnic.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The sudden storm caused a ____ change in the temperature outside.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Don't take that ____ attitude all of a sudden.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Ancient Greek δράω (dráō) Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Ancient Greek -μᾰ (-mă) Ancient Greek δρᾶμα (drâma) Proto-Indo-European *-tis Ancient Greek -τις (-tis) Ancient Greek -σῐς (-sĭs) Proto-Indo-European *-kos Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) ? Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Hellenic *-tós Ancient Greek -τος (-tos) ▲ Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) ? Ancient Greek -τικός (-tikós) Ancient Greek δρᾱμᾰτῐκός (drāmătĭkós)lbor. English dramatic Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek δρᾱμᾰτῐκός (drāmătĭkós), from δρᾶμα (drâma) + -τικός (-tikós). By surface analysis, drama + -tic.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Monteverde found the conditions of dramatic music more favourable to his experiments than those of choral music, in which both voices and ears are at their highest sensibility to discord."
— 1911, “Music”, in 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica:
"The Orestea is in effect one great single tragedy in three separate parts, each with its own dramatic purpose, yet harmonized by a common inspiration—three great acts of a drama, simple but complex; the whole, as its component members, showing unity of action in rise, crisis, and fall, and progressing in a series of like orderly stages toward a definite dramatic goal."
— 1924, Herbert Weir Smyth, “VI. Orestea. I: Agamemnon”, in Aeschylean Tragedy, page 151:
"Each year remarkable advances in prenatal medicine bring ever more dramatic confirmation of what common sense told us all along-that the child in the womb is simply what each of us once was: a very young, very small, dependent, vulnerable member of the human family."
— 1986, Ronald Reagan, Proclamation 5430:
"Poland has made some dramatic gains in education in the past decade."
— 2013 August 17, “Best and brightest”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8849:
"Johns Hopkins laying off more than 2,000 workers after dramatic cut in USAID funding […] Daniels warned in the message that the dramatic cut in USAID funding will result in “impacts to budgets, personnel, and programs.”"
— 2025 March 13, Kaanita Iyer, “Johns Hopkins laying off more than 2,000 workers after dramatic cut in USAID funding”, in edition.cnn.com:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The sudden storm caused a ____ change in the temperature outside.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Don't take that ____ attitude all of a sudden.