postdramatic

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adjective

Being or relating to an avant-garde form of theatre since the end of the 1960s, which strives to produce an effect amongst the spectators rather than to remain true to a text.

OriginEnglish dramatic ← Latin drāmaticu ← Ancient Greek δρᾱμᾰτῐκός (drāmătĭkós) →
Scrabble 19
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Meanings

adjectivepostdramatic (not comparable)
  1. not comparableBeing or relating to an avant-garde form of theatre since the end of the 1960s, which strives to produce an effect amongst the spectators rather than to remain true to a text.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*pós
  2. Proto-Indo-European*pósti
  3. Proto-Italic*posti
  4. Old Latinposte
  5. Latinpost
  6. Englishpost-
  7. Ancient Greekδράω (dráō)
  8. Ancient Greekδρᾶμα (drâma)
  9. Ancient Greekδρᾱμᾰτῐκός (drāmătĭkós)
  10. Latindrāmaticu
  11. Englishdramatic
  12. Englishpostdramatic

From post- + dramatic. The notion was established by German theatre researcher Hans-Thies Lehmann in his book Postdramatic Theatre.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

postdramatic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/postdramatic

MLA

“postdramatic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/postdramatic. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “postdramatic,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/postdramatic.

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