Soliloquy Meaning
/səˈlɪləkwi/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe act of a character speaking to themselves so as to reveal their thoughts to the audience.
nounA speech or written discourse in this form.
Sentence Examples
He thinks he's giving a soliloquy.
By the end of the semester I expect you to have memorized Hamlet's soliloquy.
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the play, the main character delivers a famous ____ while standing alone on stage.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Hamlet's most famous ____ begins with the iconic words 'To be, or not to be'.
Word Origin & History
1595–1605; From Late Latin sōliloquium in the title of St. Augustine's Soliloquiorum libri duo ("Two Books of Soliloquies"), from sōlus (“only, sole”) + loquor (“to speak”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Yet if I were to say […] that Hamlet's soliloquy had been much over-rated, it would not be said, on this account, that I was unable to appreciate Shakespeare."
— 1901, Edmund Selous, Bird Watching, J.M. Dent & Co, London, Chapter XII: Watching Blackbirds, Nightingales, Sand-martins, etc., page 315:
"The feeling of Singleton's bosom grew heightened in its tone of melancholy, and a more passionate emphasis of thought broke forth in his half-muttered soliloquy:— ¶"How I remember as I look […]"
— 1835, William Gilmore Simms, The Partisan, Harper, Chapter XI, page 135:
"Here is a very over-simplified example, this time expressed in the form of a subjective soliloquy rather than a computer simulation."
— 1976, Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene, Kindle edition, OUP Oxford, published 2016, page 126:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the play, the main character delivers a famous ____ while standing alone on stage.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Hamlet's most famous ____ begins with the iconic words 'To be, or not to be'.