Meanings
plural soliloquies
- countableuncountablebroadcastingThe act of a character speaking to themselves so as to reveal their thoughts to the audience.
At the end of the second act the main villain gave a soliloquy detailing his plans to attack the protagonist.
1 more example
Yet if I were to say […] that Hamlet's soliloquy had been much over-rated, it would not be said, on this account, that I was unable to appreciate Shakespeare.
1901, Edmund Selous, Bird Watching, J.M. Dent & Co, London, Chapter XII: Watching Blackbirds, Nightingales, Sand-martins, etc., page 315 - countableuncountableauthorshipA speech or written discourse in this form.
Here is a very over-simplified example, this time expressed in the form of a subjective soliloquy rather than a computer simulation.
1976, Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene, Kindle edition, OUP Oxford, published 2016, page 1261 more example
The feeling of Singleton's bosom grew heightened in its tone of melancholy, and a more passionate emphasis of thought broke forth in his half-muttered soliloquy:— ¶"How I remember as I look […]
1835, William Gilmore Simms, The Partisan, Harper, Chapter XI, page 135
present singular third person soliloquies · participle present soliloquying · participle present soliloquing · participle past soliloquied · past soliloquied
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo issue a soliloquy.
More synonyms by meaning
nounspeech you make to yourself
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Late Latinsōliloquium
- Englishsoliloquy
1595–1605; From Late Latin sōliloquium in the title of St. Augustine's Soliloquiorum libri duo ("Two Books of Soliloquies"), from sōlus (“only, sole”) + loquor (“to speak”).
More words from Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans alleenspraak
- alleenspraakact of a character speaking to himself
Bulgarian монолог
- монолог (monolog)act of a character speaking to himself
Catalan soliloqui, soliloqui
- soliloquiact of a character speaking to himself
- soliloquispeech or written discourse in this form
Chinese Mandarin 獨白 /独白, 獨白 /独白
- 獨白 /独白 (dúbái)act of a character speaking to himself
- 獨白 /独白 (dúbái)speech or written discourse in this form
Czech samomluva
- samomluvaact of a character speaking to himself
Danish enetale, enetale
- enetaleact of a character speaking to himself
- enetalespeech or written discourse in this form
- monologspeech or written discourse in this form
Dutch monoloog
- monoloogspeech or written discourse in this form
Finnish yksinpuhelu, yksinpuhelu
- yksinpuheluact of a character speaking to himself
- yksinpuheluspeech or written discourse in this form
French soliloque, soliloque
- soliloqueact of a character speaking to himself
- soliloquespeech or written discourse in this form
- monologuespeech or written discourse in this form
German Selbstgespräch, Selbstgespräch
- Selbstgesprächact of a character speaking to himself
- Selbstgesprächspeech or written discourse in this form
- Monologspeech or written discourse in this form
Greek μονόλογος, μονόλογος
- μονόλογος (monólogos)act of a character speaking to himself
- μονόλογος (monólogos)speech or written discourse in this form
Hungarian monológ, magánbeszéd
- monológact of a character speaking to himself
- magánbeszédact of a character speaking to himself
- monológspeech or written discourse in this form
- belső monológspeech or written discourse in this form
- magánbeszédspeech or written discourse in this form
Icelandic eintal, einræða
- eintalact of a character speaking to himself
- einræðaact of a character speaking to himself
- eintalspeech or written discourse in this form
- einræðaspeech or written discourse in this form
Indonesian senandika, solilokui
- senandikaact of a character speaking to himself
- solilokuiact of a character speaking to himself
Italian soliloquio, soliloquio
- soliloquioact of a character speaking to himself
- soliloquiospeech or written discourse in this form
Japanese 独り言, 独白
- 独り言 (hitorigoto)act of a character speaking to himself
- 独白 (dokuhaku)act of a character speaking to himself
- 独話 (dokuwa)act of a character speaking to himself
- 独白 (dokuhaku)speech or written discourse in this form
Korean 독백
- 독백 (dokbaek)act of a character speaking to himself
Māori kupu whaiaroaro
- kupu whaiaroarospeech or written discourse in this form
Norwegian Bokmål enetale, enetale
- enetaleact of a character speaking to himself
- enetalespeech or written discourse in this form
- monologspeech or written discourse in this form
Polish solilokwium
- solilokwiumact of a character speaking to himself
Portuguese solilóquio, solilóquio
- solilóquioact of a character speaking to himself
- solilóquiospeech or written discourse in this form
Russian моноло́г, солило́квий
- моноло́г (monológ)act of a character speaking to himself
- солило́квий (solilókvij)act of a character speaking to himself
- моноло́г (monológ)speech or written discourse in this form
Spanish soliloquio, soliloquio
- soliloquioact of a character speaking to himself
- soliloquiospeech or written discourse in this form
Swedish monolog, monolog
- monologact of a character speaking to himself
- monologspeech or written discourse in this form
Turkish kendi kendine konuşma
- kendi kendine konuşmaact of a character speaking to himself
Welsh ymson
- ymsonact of a character speaking to himself
Cite this entry
soliloquy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/soliloquy
“soliloquy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/soliloquy. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “soliloquy,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/soliloquy.
Source: soliloquy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.