grand opera

noun

A genre of 19th-century opera characterized by large-scale casts and orchestras, and lavish and spectacular design and stage effects, normally with plots based on or around dramatic historic events.

OriginFrench grand opéra →
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Meanings

noungrand opera (plural grand operas)

plural grand operas

  1. A genre of 19th-century opera characterized by large-scale casts and orchestras, and lavish and spectacular design and stage effects, normally with plots based on or around dramatic historic events.

    Clearly, Hitler saw his historical function as a Wagnerian grand opera. Vast cosmic changes required an accompaniment of slaughter on a colossal scale.

    1949 September 4, H. R. Trevor-Roper, “Hitler Reappraised, Ten Years After”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 16 Jul 2025

Origin

  1. Frenchgrand opéra
  2. Englishgrand opera

Borrowed from French grand opéra.

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

grand opera. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grand%20opera

MLA

“grand opera.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grand%20opera. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “grand opera,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grand%20opera.

Source: grand opera on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.