VAUDEVILLE • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Vaudeville

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/vˈɑdvɪl/ Listen

noun

Vaudeville n. (Written also vaudevil)

A kind of song of a lively character, frequently embodying a satire on some person or event, sung to a familiar air in couplets with a refrain; a street song; a topical song.

A theatrical piece, usually a comedy, the dialogue of which is intermingled with light or satirical songs, set to familiar airs. "The early vaudeville, which is the forerunner of the opera bouffe, was light, graceful, and piquant."

A variety show when performed live in a theater (see above); as, to play in vaudeville; a vaudeville actor.

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Etymology of 'Vaudeville'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Vaudeville" Quotes from Famous Books

... gone up and down once or twice from the Rue Druot to the Vaudeville Theater, just as we were taking leave of each other—for he already seemed quite done up ...

— The Works of Guy de Maupassant, Vol. 1 (of 8) - Boule de Suif and Other Stories • Guy de Maupassant

... age, and hair-powder, and the conformation of his spine made it impossible to read a word without spectacles, sat displaying a very creditable expanse of chest with all the pride of an old man with a mistress. Like old General Montcornet, that pillar of the Vaudeville, he wore earrings. Denisart was partial to blue; his roomy trousers and well-worn greatcoat were both of ...

— A Man of Business • Honore de Balzac

... of fate which almost always exchanges the proper labels of things and persons, Ariston was a supernumerary in one of the vaudeville theatres, through the influence of his father, who was a scene-shifter, and the job disgusted him, for in such a playhouse nobody ever died upon the stage, nobody ever came out in mourning and there was no weeping. And while Ariston kept ...

— The Quest • Pio Baroja

... fifty dollars a week next season. And if you wish a vaudeville engagement for the winter I think I shall be able to get one ...

— The Circus Boys on the Flying Rings • Edgar B. P. Darlington

... mediocrity wins the day, cheap aims pervade the social life, hasty judgments, superficial emotions, trivial problems, sensational excitements, and vulgar pleasures appeal to the masses. Yellow papers and vaudeville shows—vaudeville shows on the stage, in the courtroom, on the political platform, in the pulpit of the church—are welcome, and of all the results, one is the most immediate, the ...

— Psychotherapy • Hugo Muensterberg

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