melodramatic

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UK/ˌmɛl.ə.dɹəˈmæt.ɪk/UK/ˌmɛl.əʊ.dɹəˈmæt.ɪk/

adjective

Of or pertaining to melodrama; like or suitable to a melodrama; unnatural in situation or action.

“She wrote him a melodramatic letter, threatening to kill herself.”

UncommonScrabble 19

Meanings

adjectivemelodramatic (comparative more melodramatic, superlative most melodramatic)

comparative more melodramatic · superlative most melodramatic · alternative melo-dramatic

  1. Of or pertaining to melodrama; like or suitable to a melodrama; unnatural in situation or action.
  2. Exaggeratedly emotional or sentimental.

    She wrote him a melodramatic letter, threatening to kill herself.

    2 more examples

    Dearest Eloise,— There is one little and perhaps insignificant French cake, which I feel certain would soon become a favourite in the cottage, more particularly amongst its juvenile inhabitants. It is the famed galette, the melodramatic food of the gamins, galopins, mechanics, and semi-artists of France.

    1854, Alexis [Benoît] Soyer, A Shilling Cookery for the People: Embracing an Entirely New System of Plain Cookery and Domestic Economy, London, New York, N.Y.: George Routledge & Co., →OCLC, page 125

    In it, the officer insisted he did not depart from NCND and gave a melodramatic account of my "long pauses" as I said I needed the story, before I eventually became cooperative and said I had "seen the light".

    2025 July 6, Daniel De Simone, “How MI5 piled falsehood on falsehood in court in the case of a spy who abused women”, in BBC News, retrieved 06 Jul 2025

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivehaving the excitement and emotional appeal of melodrama

Similar

adjectivecharacteristic of acting or a stage performance; often affected

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Translations

Bulgarian мелодраматичен
  • мелодраматичен (melodramatičen)exaggeratedly emotional
Catalan melodramàtic, melodramàtic
  • melodramàticof or pertaining to melodrama
  • melodramàticexaggeratedly emotional
Czech melodramatický
  • melodramatickýof or pertaining to melodrama
Finnish melodramaattinen, pateettinen
  • melodramaattinenof or pertaining to melodrama
  • pateettinenexaggeratedly emotional
  • melodramaattinenexaggeratedly emotional
French mélodramatique
  • mélodramatiqueof or pertaining to melodrama
German melodramatisch
  • melodramatischof or pertaining to melodrama
Greek μελοδραματικός, μελοδραματικός
  • μελοδραματικός (melodramatikós)of or pertaining to melodrama
  • μελοδραματικός (melodramatikós)exaggeratedly emotional
Italian melodrammatico, patetico
  • melodrammaticoof or pertaining to melodrama
  • pateticoexaggeratedly emotional
  • melodrammaticoexaggeratedly emotional
Portuguese melodramático, melodramático
  • melodramáticoof or pertaining to melodrama
  • melodramáticoexaggeratedly emotional
Romanian melodramatic
  • melodramaticof or pertaining to melodrama
Russian мелодрамати́ческий, мелодрамати́ческий
  • мелодрамати́ческий (melodramatíčeskij)of or pertaining to melodrama
  • мелодрамати́ческий (melodramatíčeskij)exaggeratedly emotional
  • напы́щенный (napýščennyj)exaggeratedly emotional
Spanish melodramático, melodramático
  • melodramáticoof or pertaining to melodrama
  • melodramáticoexaggeratedly emotional
Swedish melodramatisk
  • melodramatiskof or pertaining to melodrama
Tagalog mahimigdula
  • mahimigdulaof or pertaining to melodrama
Turkish melodramatik
  • melodramatikof or pertaining to melodrama
Welsh melodramatig, melodramataidd
  • melodramatigof or pertaining to melodrama
  • melodramataiddof or pertaining to melodrama
  • melodramataiddexaggeratedly emotional
Cite this entry
APA

melodramatic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/melodramatic

MLA

“melodramatic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/melodramatic. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “melodramatic,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/melodramatic.

Source: melodramatic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.