DRAMATIC

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does dramatic mean? 

• DRAMATIC (adjective)
  The adjective DRAMATIC has 4 senses:

1. suitable to or characteristic of drama

2. sensational in appearance or thrilling in effect

3. pertaining to or characteristic of drama

4. used of a singer or singing voice that is marked by power and expressiveness and a histrionic or theatrical style

  Familiarity information: DRAMATIC used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DRAMATIC (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Suitable to or characteristic of drama

Context example:

a dramatic rescue at sea

Similar:

melodramatic (having the excitement and emotional appeal of melodrama)

spectacular (characteristic of spectacles or drama)

hammy (affectedly dramatic; overacted)

Attribute:

drama (the quality of being arresting or highly emotional)

Antonym:

undramatic (lacking dramatic force and quality)

Derivation:

drama (an episode that is turbulent or highly emotional)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Sensational in appearance or thrilling in effect

Synonyms:

dramatic; spectacular; striking

Context example:

his striking good looks always created a sensation

Similar:

impressive (making a strong or vivid impression)

Derivation:

drama (an episode that is turbulent or highly emotional)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Pertaining to or characteristic of drama

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

dramatic arts

Pertainym:

drama (a dramatic work intended for performance by actors on a stage)

Derivation:

drama (the literary genre of works intended for the theater)

drama (a dramatic work intended for performance by actors on a stage)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Used of a singer or singing voice that is marked by power and expressiveness and a histrionic or theatrical style

Context example:

a dramatic soprano

Domain category:

music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)

Antonym:

lyric (used of a singer or singing voice that is light in volume and modest in range)

 Context examples 

This study shows for the first time what a dramatic effect changing diet has on levels of TMAO, which is increasingly linked to heart disease.

(Study links frequent red meat consumption to high levels of chemical associated with heart disease, National Institutes of Health)

A dramatic change in the star came during a time when Spitzer had to point away from NGC 2547-ID8 because our sun was in the way.

(Spitzer Telescope Witnesses Asteroid Smashup, NASA)

Eclipses are the most dramatic tool the universe uses to create change.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

New research shows that five grams a day sodium consumption does not increase health risks, however dramatic reductions in salt consumption may even prove harmful.

(Study Shows Average Consumption of Salt Good for Heart Health, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

That means expending minimal amounts of energy through a reduced metabolic rate, dramatic regulation of body temperature, and navigating the world in slow motion.

(Putting the sloth in sloths: Arboreal lifestyle drives slow pace, NSF)

As southern winter solstice approaches in the Saturn system, NASA's Cassini spacecraft has been revealing dramatic seasonal changes in the atmospheric temperature and composition of Saturn's largest moon, Titan.

(Cassini Sees Dramatic Seasonal Changes on Titan, NASA)

There could be some dramatic changes to the night sky if astronomers are correct in their observations.

(Star Explosion Could Change Night Sky, VOA News)

Dramatic changes also began to appear in the forelimbs of animals known as non-mammalian therapsids.

(What makes a mammal a mammal? Our spine, say scientists, National Science Foundation)

The reason for the dramatic decline is still a mystery to the scientists.

(Study: World's Largest King Penguin Colony Declines Sharply, VOA)

In addition, the past weakening of the AMOC was much more dramatic than today’s trend so far.

(A new study is the first to measure the time lags between changing ocean currents and major climate shifts., University of Cambridge)