Did you know?
Greek drama was originally entirely performed by choruses. According to tradition, the Greek dramatist Thespis, of the 6th century B.C., was the inventor of tragedy and the first to write roles for the individual actor as distinct from the chorus, and the actor's exchanges with the chorus were the first dramatic dialogue. Since Thespis himself performed the individual parts in his own plays, he was also the first true actor. Ever since choruses disappeared from drama, thespians have filled all the roles in plays. Thespian is also an adjective; thus, we can speak of "thespian ambitions" and "thespian traditions", for example.
Synonyms
Examples of thespian in a Sentence
Diana Lodderhose, Deadline, 31 Oct. 2024
According to Harris’ daughter, who confirmed the actors death to the New York Times, the thespian passed away on Friday (Oct. 25) at his home in New York City following a bout with cancer.
—Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 28 Oct. 2024
Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 18 Oct. 2024
The nature of a Mike Leigh film is that the characters are developed individually between filmmaker and thespian.
—Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 7 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for thespian 
Dictionary Entries Near thespian
Cite this Entry
“Thespian.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thespian. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
Copy Citation
Share