operaop‧e‧ra /ˈɒpərə $ ˈɑː-/ ●●○ noun 
We go to the opera (=go to a performance of opera) regularly. an opera singer2[uncountable] these plays considered as a form of art—operatic /ˌɒpəˈrætɪk◂ $ ˌɑː-/ adjective: operatic performances—operatically /-kli/ adverb → grand opera, soap opera
WORD ORIGINopera
Origin:
1600-1700 Italian, Latin, ‘works’, plural of opus; ➔ OPUSEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Do you enjoy opera?
- one of Puccini's best-loved operas
- Career Girls never devolves into soap opera, but remains a focused, complex portrayal of a friendship.
- It might be helpful at this point to consider how the opera as a whole works along comparable lines.
- Like everybody from factory workers to opera stars, writers were supposed to serve the totalitarian state and its purposes.
- Rain was reminded of amateur opera companies, of Madeleine Corley.
- There will be a lot of opera buffs interested in these particular stamps as well as the normal collectors.
- This is the principal reason that the great voices of opera seldom sing popular songs.
- Yes, this is a soap opera.
WORD SETS
a cappella, adjectiveaccelerando, adjectiveaccompaniment, nounaccompanist, nounaccompany, verbaccordion, nounacid house, nounacoustic, adjectiveadagio, nounallegro, nounandante, adjectiveandante, nounanthem, nounaria, nounarpeggio, nounarr., arrange, verbarrangement, nounatonal, adjectiveback, verbbacking, nounbagpipes, nounbalalaika, nounballad, nounband, nounbandmaster, nounbandsman, nounbandstand, nounbanjo, nounbar, nounbarbershop, nounbaritone, nounbarrel organ, nounbass, nounbass, adjectivebass clef, nounbass guitar, nounbassist, nounbassoon, nounbaton, nounbeat, verbbeat, nounbebop, nounblast, verbblow, verbbluegrass, nounbolero, nounbongos, nounboogie, nounbootleg, nounbow, nounbow, verbbrass band, nounbreve, nounbridge, nounbugle, nounbusk, verbC, nouncabaret, nouncadence, nouncadenza, nouncalypso, nounC & W, canon, nouncantata, nouncanticle, nouncantor, nouncarillon, nouncarol, nouncarol, verbcastanets, nouncatchy, adjectivecellist, nouncello, nounchamber music, nounchamber orchestra, nounchant, verbchant, nounchoir, nounchoirboy, nounchoral, adjectivechorale, nounchord, nounchorister, nounchorus, nounChristmas carol, nounchromatic, adjectiveclapper, nounclarinet, nounclavichord, nounclef, nouncoda, nouncoloratura, nouncombo, nouncompose, verbcomposer, nounconcert, nounconcertgoer, nounconcertina, nounconcertmaster, nounconcerto, nounconduct, verbconductor, nounconsonant, adjectiveconsort, nouncontinuo, nouncontrabass, nouncontralto, nouncor anglais, nouncornet, nouncounterpoint, nouncountertenor, nouncountry and western, nouncountry music, nouncover, verbcover, nouncrescendo, nouncroon, verbcrotchet, nouncut, verbcymbal, nounD, noundamper, noundance, noundance band, noundemo, noundescant, noundidgeridoo, noundiminuendo, noundirge, noundisc jockey, noundiscord, noundiscordant, adjectivedissonance, nounditty, nounDixieland, noundo, noundoh, noundominant, noundouble bass, noundownbeat, noundrum, noundrum, verbdrumbeat, noundrum kit, noundrum major, noundrummer, noundrumming, noundrum-roll, noundrumstick, noundub, nounduet, noundulcimer, nounduo, nounear, nouneasy listening, nouneighth note, nounelevator music, nounencore, interjectionensemble, nounexpression, nounf., fa, nounfalsetto, nounfanfare, nounfantasia, nounfiddle, nounfiddler, nounfife, nounfinale, nounfingering, nounflat, adjectiveflat, nounflat, adverbflautist, nounfloor show, nounflourish, nounflute, nounfolk, nounfolk, adjectivefolk music, nounforte, nounforte, adjectivefortissimo, adjectiveforty-five, nounFrench horn, nounfret, nounfugue, nounfunk, nounfunky, adjectiveg, gamelan, noungig, noungig, verbglee club, nounglide, nounglockenspiel, noungong, noungospel, noungrand, noungrand opera, noungrand piano, nounGregorian chant, noungroup, nounguitar, nounhalf note, nounhalf step, nounhammer, nounhard rock, nounharmonic, adjectiveharmonica, nounharmonium, nounharmonize, verbharmony, nounharp, nounharpsichord, nounheavy metal, nounhigh, adjectivehigh-pitched, adjectivehip hop, nounhorn, nounhot, adjectivehouse music, nounhurdy-gurdy, nounhymn, nounimpressionism, nounimpressionist, nounimprovise, verbincidental music, nouninstrument, nouninstrumental, adjectiveinstrumental, nouninstrumentalist, nouninstrumentation, nouninterlude, nouninterval, nounjam, verbjam session, nounjazz, nounjazzy, adjectivejig, nounjingle, nounjungle, nounkaraoke, nounkazoo, nounkettledrum, nounkey, nounkeyboard, nounkey signature, nounla, nounlament, nounlargo, adjectiveleader, nounledger line, nounlegato, adjectiveleitmotif, nounlento, adjectivelibrettist, nounlibretto, nounlilt, nounlullaby, nounlute, nounlyre, nounlyric, adjectivelyrical, adjectivelyricism, nounlyricist, nounmadrigal, nounmaestro, nounmajor, adjectivemale-voice choir, nounmandolin, nounmaracas, nounmarch, nounmarching band, nounmariachi, nounmarimba, nounmasterclass, nounmedley, nounmellifluous, adjectivemelodic, adjectivemelodious, adjectivemelody, nounmetronome, nounmezzo-soprano, nounmi, nounmiddle C, nounminim, nounminor, adjectiveminstrel, nounminuet, nounmodal, adjectivemode, nounmoderato, adjectivemodulate, verbmolto, adverbmood music, nounmotif, nounmouth organ, nounmouthpiece, nounmovement, nounmusic, nounmusical, adjectivemusical, nounmusical instrument, nounmusically, adverbmusician, nounmusicianship, nounmusicology, nounmusic stand, nounmute, verbmute, nounMuzak, nounnational anthem, nounnatural, adjectivenatural, nounNegro spiritual, nounnocturne, nounnote, nounnumber, nounnumber one, nounnursery rhyme, nounoboe, nounoctave, nounoctet, nounoff-key, adjectiveone-man band, nounopera, nounopera house, nounoperetta, nounopus, nounoratorio, nounorchestra, nounorchestral, adjectiveorchestra pit, nounorchestrate, verborgan, nounorgan grinder, nounorganist, nounovertone, nounoverture, nounp., panpipes, nounpart, nounpart-song, nounpause, nounpeal, verbpedal, nounpeg, nounpenny whistle, nounpercussion, nounperfect pitch, nounPhilharmonic, adjectivephrase, nounphrase, verbphrasing, nounpianissimo, adjectivepianist, nounpiano, nounpiano, adjectivepianola, nounpiccolo, nounpick, verbpick, nounpipe, verbpiped music, nounpiper, nounpitch, nounpitch, verbpizzicato, nounplainchant, nounplainsong, nounplay, verbplayer, nounplayer piano, nounplectrum, nounpluck, verbpolyphony, nounpop, nounpop group, nounpop music, nounpop star, nounprelude, nounpresto, adjectivepresto, nounprima donna, nounproduction number, nounpromenade concert, nounpsaltery, nounpunk, nounquarter note, nounquartet, nounquaver, nounquintet, nounR & B, nounrag, nounraga, nounragga, nounragtime, nounrange, nounrap, nounrap, verbrapper, nounrecital, nounrecitative, nounrecord, nounrecorder, nounreed, nounrefrain, nounreggae, nounregister, nounremaster, verbrendering, nounrendition, nounrepeat, nounrequest, nounrequiem, nounresonator, nounrest, nounrhapsody, nounrhythm, nounrhythm and blues, nounrhythm section, nounriff, nounroadie, nounroad manager, nounrock, nounrock and roll, nounrock music, nounrock 'n' roll, nounrondo, nounrostrum, nounround, nounrumba, nounrun, nounsalsa, nounsamba, nounsaxophone, nounsaxophonist, nounscale, nounscat, nounscherzo, nounscore, nounscore, verbsemibreve, nounsemiquaver, nounsemitone, nounseptet, nounserenade, nounserenade, verbset, nounsetting, nounsextet, nounshanty, nounsharp, adverbsharp, nounsheet music, nounsight-read, verbsignature tune, nounsing, verbsinger, nounsinger-songwriter, nounsingle, nounsitar, nounsixteenth note, nounska, nounskiffle, nounslide, nounslur, verbslur, nounsnare drum, nounso, nounsol, nounsol-fa, nounsolo, adjectivesolo, nounsoloist, nounsonata, nounsong, nounsongbook, nounsongster, nounsongwriter, nounsoprano, nounsoprano, adjectivesoul, nounsoundtrack, nounspiritual, nounsqueezebox, nounstaccato, adverbstaff, nounstandard, nounStar-Spangled Banner, the, stave, nounsteel band, nounsteel guitar, nounstep, nounstring, verbstringed instrument, nounstrum, verbstudy, nounsuite, nounswell, nounswing, nounsymphony, nounsyncopated, adjectivesyncopation, nounsynthesis, nounsynthesize, verbsynthesizer, nountabla, nountabor, nountambourine, nountechno, nountempo, nountenor, nountenor, adjectiveTex-Mex, adjectivetheme, nounthrash, nounthrenody, nounthrob, verbti, nountimbrel, nountime, nountime signature, nountimpani, nountoccata, nountom-tom, nountonal, adjectivetonality, nountone, nountone-deaf, adjectivetone poem, nountonic, nountootle, verbtrack, nountranscribe, verbtranspose, verbtreble, nountreble, adjectivetreble clef, nountremolo, nountriangle, nountrill, nountrombone, nountrumpet, nountuba, nountune, nountune, verbtuneful, adjectivetuneless, adjectivetuning fork, nountuning peg, nounukulele, noununaccompanied, adjectiveupright piano, nounvalve, nounvariation, nounverse, nounvibes, nounvibraphone, nounvibrato, nounviola, nounviolin, nounviolinist, nounvirginals, nounvirtuoso, nounvivace, adjectivevocal, adjectivevocal, nounvocalist, nounvoice, nounvoluntary, nounwaltz, nounwarble, verbwarbler, nounwhole note, nounwind instrument, nounwoodwind, nounxylophone, nounyodel, verbyodel, nounzither, nounzydeco, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY We go to the opera (=go to a performance of opera) regularly. an opera singerCOLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES her favourite pop singer a famous Italian opera singerCOLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
We go to the opera (=go to a performance of opera) regularly. an opera singer her favourite pop singer a famous Italian opera singer· I doubt it too; it is simply too good comic opera to be true.· The comic opera of Gilbert and Sullivan is a regular feature on the Alexandra's varied programme.
· Elizabeth is an extraordinary mixture of epic film, grand opera and grand guignol.· It is a setting worthy of grand opera.· A portion of the festival was devoted to grand opera.
· The trees were growing, it seemed to him, on the stage of a great opera house.· This is the principal reason that the great voices of opera seldom sing popular songs.· Yet political feeling, rather than ideology, is at the heart of all great opera.· Supertitles are the greatest advancement in opera production in the last 50 years.
· But Monteverdi's later operas, most of them lost, belong to another chapter.
· Mr. Renton Major opera companies in receipt of public funds offer concessionary ticket prices for certain groups, including students.· Domingo is the only one who heads a major opera company. 7.
· Meanwhile, new opera is everywhere.· Ay, lady, the smokehouse is empty and baby needs a new pair of opera pumps.· As well as his teaching, and a planned series of concerts in the autumn, Mozart was also working on a new opera.· We were discussing the new opera production the director of the San Francisco Opera company was looking for.· I was hoping to get the chance to see the new Beethoven opera.
NOUN· Alas, even the most well-meaning opera buffs have an unfortunate habit of making their favorite indoor sport sound impossibly complicated.· Inside, bartenders wearing leather harnesses serve beer in cans to an assortment of brutes, heathens, and opera buffs.
· Rain was reminded of amateur opera companies, of Madeleine Corley.· An opera company was formed to grace the new Civic Theatre under construction.· Mr. Renton Major opera companies in receipt of public funds offer concessionary ticket prices for certain groups, including students.· This is meant to rebuke the visitor: these monkeys have an opera company!· He insisted on a clause in his contract assuring him that his duties would not interfere with rehearsals for the opera company.· Domingo is the only one who heads a major opera company. 7.
· The Duke back again behind his opera glass.· Celestine pressed the opera glasses against her eyes until they hurt.
· Once the best you could hope for was a 50-year-old prima ballerina who sometimes starred at the local opera house.· They grew wealthy overnight and had a beautiful little opera house built in the midst of their shacks on the steep slope.· They polished up the opera house, and every summer stars from the Metropolitan came out and performed.· The city cleverly combines cultural attractions such as museums, galleries, theatres and opera houses - with a very strong fun-loving steak.· There was great resistance initially, but now almost every opera house uses them.· But it was in the opera house not the organ loft that he found his true métier.· But opera is politically neutral and the Khabarovsk opera house was vacant most of the time.
· Some of your Salzburg opera productions are also going on film, too?· Divas are often the financial linchpins for opera productions costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.· At Covent Garden he dominated opera production in the 1950s and early 1960s.· Supertitles are the greatest advancement in opera production in the last 50 years.· We were discussing the new opera production the director of the San Francisco Opera company was looking for.
· Some people say he's a famous opera singer who likes to come incognito back to his roots.· An opera singer was shrieking-wah-wah.· And Angèle Didier is supposed to be an opera singer, an experienced woman of the world.· The portrait photographer had me clasp my hands like an opera singer and look straight into the camera.· This was the home of the celebrated opera singer Destinová who held her salon here.· Another was a leading light opera singer in the local community.· I worked and worked at my singing, because I wanted to be an opera singer.· My father told me a joke once, about a man who marries an ugly opera singer because he loves her voice.
· For example, many soap operas omit older people entirely, as if we were all perpetually middle-aged!· This is not a surprise, because Bozeman weeps with the ease of a soap opera grandmother.· In those old soap operas, the women used to destroy one another.· In this way the Jordache pair transcended their soap opera status.· You're expected to behave as if you're in a soap opera these days.· The stupid sexist comments of the blokes with whom and for whom she worked merely provided an entertaining soap opera wallpaper.· Read in studio Thousands of fans have been flocking to see Britain's longest running soap opera on the live stage.
VERB· You have to sing lieder with your true voice, and put more intelligence into performing opera.· Students could learn how to play folk guitar or sing and perform in opera.
· Can one use the same technique to sing opera and lieder?· After the meal she sang Teochew opera pieces in a booming falsetto.· Mr Wilfred Franks, who lives in Middlesbrough, also sang in both operas.· Most of all her voice booms, whether she's praising her spicy Southwest eggs or when she sings opera on stage.· She no longer sang in opera but her voice was still superb.· Students could learn how to play folk guitar or sing and perform in opera.· He proudly claims to be able to sing three operas by heart.
· I have watched her at the opera, where she glittered.· They really dragged just watching telly, and everyone wanted to watch the soap operas and sit coms.
· Back home, Wolfgang set about writing the opera anyway.· In the mid-1950s, Piazzola began to write operas and concertos based on the tangos.· Aribert Reinman, who wrote an opera, Lear, for me, is a special case.· Donizetti wrote about a million operas.· Mozart and he wrote most of the opera in the stage-coach.· He took up writing opera libretti, and came to Vienna around 1780, where he obtained a court appointment.· Thus the best libretto ever written for the best opera ever written is scarcely tolerable as reading matter.· In the summer of 1774 Wolfgang was commissioned to write an opera buffa for the next carnival season in Munich.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► golf/opera etc nut
1[countable] a musical play in which all of the words are sung: - Alas, even the most well-meaning opera buffs have an unfortunate habit of making their favorite indoor sport sound impossibly complicated.
- For the real film buff, however, the place to be has to be BlackStar.
- Inside, bartenders wearing leather harnesses serve beer in cans to an assortment of brutes, heathens, and opera buffs.
- It all started when wine buff Liz entered another competition in the Express.
- Rubbish, I hear all you wine buffs out there say.
- A belligerent crowd of some fifty thousand gathered around the court house.
- Not only was the curtain rung down but the opera house was dismantled.
- She prefers her recordings made live in the opera house and regards herself totally as a woman of the theatre.
- The Court House, where the business was conducted, can still be seen today.
- Then he opened a movie house and said he was definitely done with pro basketball.
- There are two public houses, a butcher's shop, a chapel, and a court house.
- They grew wealthy overnight and had a beautiful little opera house built in the midst of their shacks on the steep slope.
- They polished up the opera house, and every summer stars from the Metropolitan came out and performed.
We go to the opera (=go to a performance of opera) regularly. an opera singer2[uncountable] these plays considered as a form of art—operatic /ˌɒpəˈrætɪk◂ $ ˌɑː-/ adjective: operatic performances—operatically /-kli/ adverb → grand opera, soap opera