melodrama
Exaggerated emotional theater
Melodrama is drama that emphasizes heightened emotion and sensational plot over subtlety or realism—villains are villainous, heroes heroic, and the music swells at key moments.
The term now more often describes exaggerated emotional behavior in real life: Stop being so melodramatic, it's just a parking ticket.
The adjective melodramatic implies that someone is making too much of something.
Wicked story antagonist
- heroineBrave female protagonist
- potboilerWork made for money
- cliffhangerSuspenseful unresolved ending
- tearjerkerEmotionally manipulative entertainment
soap-opera · telenovela · Bollywood · bodice-ripper · gothic · Victorian · serialized
Excessive theatrical performance
- theatricalityExaggerated, showy manner
- hyperboleRhetorical extreme exaggeration
- dramatizationConverting events to performance
- histrionicsExaggerated emotional behavior
bombast · grandiosity · floridness · embellishment · scenery-chewing · hammy · overplay · excess
Deep emotional distress
- sentimentalityExcessive tender emotion
- anguishIntense mental suffering
- passionIntense emotional drive
- yearningIntense prolonged craving
longing · despair · torment · jealousy · heartbreak · betrayal · remorse · weepy
Raised performance platform
- prosceniumTheater's architectural frame
- tableauStriking pictorial arrangement
- asideBrief theatrical digression
- soliloquyDramatic speech to oneself
curtain · scenery · costume · footlights · spotlight · ensemble · repertory · matinee
Overused, unoriginal expression
- tropeRecurring narrative device
- formulaicFollowing a set template
- predictableAble to be foreseen
- hackneyedOverused and unoriginal
archetype · typecast · contrived · heavy-handed · black-and-white · cardboard · one-dimensional · corny
Numerical standing in competition
- overtureIntroductory orchestral piece
- leitmotifRecurring thematic phrase
- underscoreLow horizontal text mark
- accompanimentSupplementary support element
orchestration · cue · crescendo · theme · interlude · fanfare
villain
Wicked story antagonist
- heroineBrave female protagonist
- potboilerWork made for money
- cliffhangerSuspenseful unresolved ending
tearjerker · soap-opera · telenovela · Bollywood · bodice-ripper · gothic · Victorian · serialized
overacting
Excessive theatrical performance
- theatricalityExaggerated, showy manner
- hyperboleRhetorical extreme exaggeration
- dramatizationConverting events to performance
histrionics · bombast · grandiosity · floridness · embellishment · scenery-chewing · hammy · overplay · excess · flamboyance
heartache
Deep emotional distress
- sentimentalityExcessive tender emotion
- anguishIntense mental suffering
- passionIntense emotional drive
yearning · longing · despair · torment · jealousy · heartbreak · betrayal · remorse · weepy · tears
stage
Raised performance platform
- prosceniumTheater's architectural frame
- tableauStriking pictorial arrangement
- asideBrief theatrical digression
soliloquy · curtain · scenery · costume · footlights · spotlight · ensemble · repertory · matinee · vaudeville
cliché
Overused, unoriginal expression
- tropeRecurring narrative device
- formulaicFollowing a set template
- predictableAble to be foreseen
hackneyed · archetype · typecast · contrived · heavy-handed · black-and-white · cardboard · one-dimensional · corny · campy
score
Numerical standing in competition
- overtureIntroductory orchestral piece
- leitmotifRecurring thematic phrase
- underscoreLow horizontal text mark
accompaniment · orchestration · cue · crescendo · theme · interlude · fanfare
- genresaction, comedy, detective fiction, fantasy, horror
- dramas
- emotional rhetoricpathos, emotional appeal, appeals to emotion, loaded language, loaded words
- Theater Formsstage play, one-act play, mystery play, morality play, passion play
- writing flawstypos, spelling errors, plot hole, plot holes, cliche
- angst ficwhump, hurt/comfort, tearjerker, character death, sad ending
melodramarestraint
Control over impulses
understatement · subtlety · minimalism · reserve · composure
melodramacharacter study
Work examining personality
psychological drama · realism · naturalism · slice of life · literary fiction
melodramanaturalism
Worldview excluding the supernatural
realism · cinema verité · documentary · neorealism · kitchen sink realism
- Victorian melodramaSensational nineteenth-century stage entertainment
melodramatic, melodramatically, melodramas, melodramatize, melodramatics, melodramatizing, melodramatized