Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A dramatic or literary form of discourse in which a character talks to himself or herself or reveals his or her thoughts when alone or unaware of the presence of other characters.
- noun A specific speech or piece of writing in this form.
- noun The act of speaking to oneself.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A talking to one's self; a discourse or talk by a person who is alone, or which is not addressed to any one even when others are present.
- noun A written composition containing such a talk or discourse, or what purports to be one.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The act of talking to one's self; a discourse made by one in solitude to one's self; monologue.
- noun A written composition, reciting what it is supposed a person says to himself.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun drama The act of a
character speaking tohimself so as toreveal histhoughts to theaudience . - noun A
speech or writtendiscourse in this form. - verb To issue a soliloquy.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a (usually long) dramatic speech intended to give the illusion of unspoken reflections
- noun speech you make to yourself
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Says Greenburg, noting the show also starred Brett Favre when his Hamlet-like soliloquy is once again being treated as news: "I'm happy with the show — an excellent show."
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The lengthy trumpet solo near the end, which the program notes advise is an orchestrated soliloquy from the opera on a John Donne poem, was only the most prominent example.
Music review: Adams's 'Doctor Atomic' by BSO at Strathmore Post 2010
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She or he has a fundamental interest in its practicability, in fact his or her own identity and degree of self-awareness depends upon it: the conversation of soliloquy is "our sovereign remedy and gymnastic method" (84).
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The “to be or not to be” soliloquy is presented against a vast seascape where waves crash wildly into massive shoreline stones.
Current Movie Reviews, Independent Movies - Film Threat 2006
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1. 4Lady Macbeth speaks in soliloquy about driving a implicitly squeamish Mac. to seize a throne.
Philadelphia Reflections: Shakspere Society of Philadelphia admin 2009
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1. 4Lady Macbeth speaks in soliloquy about driving a implicitly squeamish Mac. to seize a throne.
Archive 2009-11-01 admin 2009
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He had a 400-word soliloquy that was all over the place, from supposed public puzzlement over some of the judge's decisions, a quip about the senator's son going to University of Pennsylvania, followed by the senator's recollection of speaking at Princeton.
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“You speak a soliloquy as if you were on the stage, and seem to account me a cipher,” said the old admiral suddenly.
The Ball at Sceaux 2007
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“You speak a soliloquy as if you were on the stage, and seem to account me a cipher,” said the old admiral suddenly.
The Ball at Sceaux 2007
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In narrative, no doubt, the writer has the alternative of telling that his personages thought so and so, inferred thus and thus, and arrived at such and such a conclusion; but the soliloquy is a more concise and spirited mode of communicating the same information; and therefore thus communed, or thus might have communed, the Lord of Glenvarloch with his own mind.
dbmag9 commented on the word soliloquy
What do I feel about this word? On the one hand it sounds beautiful: the vowels and consonants run into, over and through each other to form a word which seems to flow off my tongue. On the other hand I feel compelled to take some kind of stand against such a confusing spelling. Surely there should be an extra vowel after the "u"? Surely there should be something, well, different in it? The meaning is also not very useful: a long monologue in which the character (in a film or play) talks to himself (and to the audience) about his thoughts. Automonologue would be the far-less-elegant Greek-derived alternative. Having seen that I think I can conclude my own by saying I like it.
December 7, 2006
dbmag9 commented on the word soliloquy
What do I feel about this word? On the one hand it sounds beautiful: the vowels and consonants run into, over and through each other to form a word which seems to flow off my tongue. On the other hand I feel compelled to take some kind of stand against such a confusing spelling. Surely there should be an extra vowel after the "u"? Surely there should be something, well, different in it? The meaning is also not very useful: a long monologue in which the character (in a film or play) talks to himself (and to the audience) about his thoughts. Automonologue would be the far-less-elegant Greek-derived alternative. Having seen that I think I can conclude my own by saying I like it.
December 7, 2006
dbmag9 commented on the word soliloquy
What do I feel about this word? On the one hand it sounds beautiful: the vowels and consonants run into, over and through each other to form a word which seems to flow off my tongue. On the other hand I feel compelled to take some kind of stand against such a confusing spelling. Surely there should be an extra vowel after the "u"? Surely there should be something, well, different in it? The meaning is also not very useful: a long monologue in which the character (in a film or play) talks to himself (and to the audience) about his thoughts. Automonologue would be the far-less-elegant Greek-derived alternative. Having seen that I think I can conclude my own by saying I like it.
December 7, 2006
wordup commented on the word soliloquy
It is indeed a beautiful word to say out loud.
November 12, 2007
tonight commented on the word soliloquy
Wonderful word.
January 26, 2008
asativum commented on the word soliloquy
You don't say?
January 26, 2008