dramatic
part of speech
adjective (dramatic; more dramatic, most dramatic); adverb: dramatically
meaning for a pupil
1) Dramatic means sudden and large, making a big change: «a dramatic rise». tree →
2) Dramatic means exciting and full of action or strong feeling. tree →
3) Dramatic means to do with plays and acting. tree →
4) (informal) Being dramatic means showing too much emotion: «Don't be so dramatic!» tree →
sense in the lessons
In maths and science it describes a big change on a graph. In stories it marks exciting moments. In drama lessons it is about acting. Phrases: «a dramatic change», «a dramatic rescue», «don't be dramatic».
examples
- There was a dramatic fall in temperature overnight. tree →
- The firefighters made a dramatic rescue. tree →
- The story has a dramatic ending. tree →
- Our school has a dramatic arts club. tree →
- «I'm starving to death!» — «Don't be so dramatic.» tree →
- The graph shows a dramatic rise in visitors. tree →
- In the evening “Dramatic Readings” were to be given at the little theatre in King Street. tree →
note
Not just «exciting»: often means «big and sudden». In maths, «a dramatic increase» means a large one, but always look at the actual numbers.
In the corpora
- Reality TV is real people in made-up situations, filmed for weeks and cut down into dramatic episodes.
- TV talent shows are edited to be dramatic, so harsh comments and tears are often shown more because they get more viewers.
- Dashes give a stronger break than brackets or commas, and can make writing more dramatic; used too often they lose their effect.
- Dramatic music, a glowing brain on screen, a YouTuber whispering: "You only use TEN PERCENT of your brain.
- I can't tell anyone, they'll think I'm being dramatic."
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «dramatic» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.