op·era
ˈä-p(ə-)rə 
Southern also ˈä-prē
1
: a drama set to music and made up of vocal pieces with orchestral accompaniment and orchestral overtures (see overture entry 1 sense 2) and interludes (see interlude sense 2)
2
: the score (see score entry 1 sense 6) of a musical drama
The composer finished the opera in just six weeks.
3
: the performance of an opera
The opera was delayed a half hour due to technical difficulties.
also
: a house where operas are performed
We'll meet you at the opera at 7 p.m.
Examples of opera in a Sentence
Noun
I am going to an opera tonight.
Recent Examples on the Web
Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2024
Jennens, meanwhile, had no idea that Handel had, in a matter of about three weeks, fashioned the entire oratorio in his usual adroit way of recomposing airs from his own trove of Italian operas and bringing to life a bundle of new songs and choruses.
—Bob Blaisdell, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 Dec. 2024
Given the limited sonic palette of Romance languages, Mobarak sought out to make an opera with the widest array of human vocal sounds by translating Dafne into some of the world’s most phonetically complex languages.
—Mariana Fernández, ARTnews.com, 18 Dec. 2024
The late justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, ideological opposites, famously bonded over their love for opera — a friendship that inspired a comic opera in 2015.
—Rachel Treisman, NPR, 16 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for opera 
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Noun
Can the art of opera ever escape the suffocating grip of its magnificent past?
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2024
Jennens, meanwhile, had no idea that Handel had, in a matter of about three weeks, fashioned the entire oratorio in his usual adroit way of recomposing airs from his own trove of Italian operas and bringing to life a bundle of new songs and choruses.
—Bob Blaisdell, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 Dec. 2024
Given the limited sonic palette of Romance languages, Mobarak sought out to make an opera with the widest array of human vocal sounds by translating Dafne into some of the world’s most phonetically complex languages.
—Mariana Fernández, ARTnews.com, 18 Dec. 2024
The late justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, ideological opposites, famously bonded over their love for opera — a friendship that inspired a comic opera in 2015.
—Rachel Treisman, NPR, 16 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for opera
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Dictionary Entries Near opera
Cite this Entry
“Opera.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/opera. Accessed 5 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
opera
1 of 2plural of opus
opera
2 of 2 noun
op·era
ˈäp-(ə-)rə
1
: a play in which usually the entire text is sung with orchestral accompaniment
2
: the performance of an opera
operatic
adjective
ˌäp-ə-ˈrat-ik
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