1. 1. A prose or verse composition, especially one telling a serious story, that is intended for representation by actors impersonating the characters and performing the dialogue and action.
   2. A serious narrative work or program for television, radio, or the cinema.
2. Theatrical plays of a particular kind or period: Elizabethan drama.
3. The art or practice of writing or producing dramatic works.
4. A situation or succession of events in real life having the dramatic progression or emotional effect characteristic of a play: the drama of the prisoner's escape and recapture.
5. The quality or condition of being dramatic: a summit meeting full of drama.

[Late Latin drāma, drāmat-, from Greek, from drān, to do, perform.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.