THEATER Definition & Meaning

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theater

or �ٳ��·��·�ٰ��

[ thee-uh-ter, theeuh- ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a building, part of a building, or outdoor area for housing dramatic performances or stage entertainments, or for showing movies.
the audience at a theatrical performance or movie:
The whole theater was weeping.
a theatrical or acting company.
a room or hall, fitted with tiers of seats rising like steps, used for lectures, surgical demonstrations, etc.:
Students crowded into the operating theater.
the theater, dramatic performances as a branch of art; the field or discipline of staged drama:
an actress devoted to the theater.
Often the theater. dramatic works collectively, as of literature, a nation, or an author:
the theater of Ibsen.
the quality or effectiveness of dramatic performance: bad theater;
good theater;
bad theater;
pure theater.
a place of dramatic action, especially during a war: theater of war.
the Pacific theater during World War II.
Synonyms: , ,
a public display of action or speech that gives a false impression of accomplishing or promising something, merely for the sake of appearances (often used in combination): Public health experts have said that the time and money spent on cleaning may be unnecessary hygiene theater. Forget all his blustering about doing what's best for our city—it's just theater to please his union masters and protect his political base.
Washington D.C.'s Metro transit system has instituted random bag searches, and many travelers are just as unhappy about the security theater on the train as in the airport.
Public health experts have said that the time and money spent on cleaning may be unnecessary hygiene theater.
Companies need to go beyond diversity theater and commit to long-term, concrete metrics for change.
Forget all his blustering about doing what's best for our city—it's just theater to please his union masters and protect his political base.
a natural formation of land rising by steps or gradations.

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Pronunciation Note

Theater, an early Middle English borrowing from French, originally had its primary stress on the second syllable: [tey-, ah, -t, r, uh]. As with many early French borrowings ( beauty, carriage, marriage ), the stress moved to the first syllable, in conformity with a common English pattern of stress, and this pattern remains the standard one for theater today: [thee, -, uh, -ter]. A pronunciation with stress on the second syllable and the vowel [ey], as [thee-, ey, -ter] or sometimes [thee, -ey-ter] is characteristic chiefly of a nonstandard regional pronunciation in the United States that may be perceived as uneducated.

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Other 51�Թ� Forms

�Դǲ�·�ٳ��·��·�ٱ�� adjective
��·�ٳ��·��·�ٱ�� adjective

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of theater¹

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English theatre, from Latin �ٳ��ٰ��ܳ�, from Greek �ٳ�é��ٰ��ǲ� “seeing place, theater,” equivalent to �ٳ��-, stem of �ٳ��â��ٳ󲹾� “to view” + -tron suffix denoting means or place

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The couple, who met as teenagers while performing in youth theater in England and got married in their early 20s, found it hard to break into the TV industry there.

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Seeing as Trump's position has only become stronger with the support of the Supreme Court, there's reason to believe that a third impeachment would be little more than theater.

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The unsuspecting saints may be gone by the time they realize that the pedestal to which we annexed them was a cliff or tripwire trapping them in the theater of an idea of themselves.

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The audiences have reciprocated the gesture by filling the theaters more than they usually do.

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The museum has announced a trio of recent commissions and released a detailed outline of its restaurants, theater and amenities.

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Related 51�Թ�s

theat.theatergoer

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