soap opera
noun
1
a
: a serial drama performed originally on a daytime radio or television program and chiefly characterized by tangled interpersonal situations and melodramatic or sentimental treatment
b
: a series of real-life events resembling a soap opera
2
: the melodrama and sentimentality characteristic of a soap opera
… even cops need a little soap opera in their lives …—
Joseph Wambaugh
Joseph Wambaugh
also
: something (such as a novel) having such qualities
Examples of soap opera in a Sentence
She loves to watch daytime soap operas.
the movie started out well, but quickly devolved into improbable soap opera
Recent Examples on the Web
The plot is high-class soap opera, offered at a time when most composers were avoiding any subject that glamorized the bourgeoisie.
—Russell Platt, New Yorker, 20 May 2026
In delivering this critique against the state of the country, Lear spared few targets, and even soap operas were fair game.
—Literary Hub, 18 May 2026
Davis played April Page, a soap opera actress who appears in the fictional soap Southwest General alongside Dorothy Michaels (who's really Dustin Hoffman's character, Michael Dorsey, in is disguise as a woman).
—Victoria Edel, PEOPLE, 18 May 2026
Of course, the pitfalls of rooting a soap opera in the world of modern football means your supporting characters are at the mercy of the transfer merry-go-round.
—Jon O'Brien, IndieWire, 14 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for soap opera
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Russell Platt, New Yorker, 20 May 2026
In delivering this critique against the state of the country, Lear spared few targets, and even soap operas were fair game.
—Literary Hub, 18 May 2026
Davis played April Page, a soap opera actress who appears in the fictional soap Southwest General alongside Dorothy Michaels (who's really Dustin Hoffman's character, Michael Dorsey, in is disguise as a woman).
—Victoria Edel, PEOPLE, 18 May 2026
Of course, the pitfalls of rooting a soap opera in the world of modern football means your supporting characters are at the mercy of the transfer merry-go-round.
—Jon O'Brien, IndieWire, 14 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for soap opera
Cite this Entry
“Soap opera.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/soap%20opera. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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