noun
melodrama
MEL-uh-drah-muh/ˈmelədrɑːmə/
Drama that exaggerates feeling through sensational situations.
The play leans on melodrama, with tearful speeches and shocking betrayals.
Etymology
Song plus drama originally named a dramatic work using music. The term shifted toward sensational, romantic plays, giving the modern sense of a story or situation marked by exaggerated emotion and conflict.
In context
one is melodrama you know those scenes that are so over the top that they feel fake it's like an actor trying too hard to cry it just feels forced and insincere
More examples
- We watched a melodrama about a family torn apart by jealousy.
- She prefers quiet realism to the melodrama of this novel.
- The small disagreement turns into melodrama when he threatens to quit.
Forms
melodrama · melodramas
melodramatic adjective — Marked by exaggerated emotion and sensationalism.
melodramatically adverb — With exaggerated emotion or theatrical intensity.
Similar words
- drama
- Includes restrained, realistic works as well as sensational ones.
- soap opera
- Features ongoing personal conflicts, usually in a serialized format.