soliloquy
noun
so·lil·o·quy
| \ sə-ˈli-lə-kwē
\
\
plural soliloquies
Definition of soliloquy
1
: the act of talking to oneself
2
: a poem, discourse, or utterance of a character in a drama that has the form of a monologue or gives the illusion of being a series of unspoken reflections
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Examples of soliloquy in a Sentence
But if it is hard for the theatergoer to catch all the meanings in Macbeth's rippling soliloquies, then how much harder is that task when Shakespeare seems unable or unwilling to unpack his obscurities.
— James Wood, New Republic, 26 June 2000
A funny thing happened to Billy Joel on the way to the recording studio recently. "I was walking down the street," he says, "and there was this big guy with long, stringy, greasy hair just talking to the air—screaming, actually. He was in the middle of this angry soliloquy when he looked at me, stopped and said in a regular voice, 'Hey, Billy, how ya doin'?' And then he went right back into his tirade."
— Elysa Gardner, Rolling Stone, 10 June 1993
After Allen left, what became known as "The Tonight Show" fell into the hands of a genuine original. Jack Paar was an eminently normal-looking man, a former G.I. entertainer who planted himself at a desk instead of scampering around like Allen had. He would begin his shows in a low, well-modulated voice, exuding a dangerous calm. Then, periodically, but never predictably, he would lurch into disgruntled, pathetic soliloquies, decrying some indignity visited upon him by the network or the press.
— Alex Ross, New Republic, 8 Nov. 1993
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Recent Examples on the Web
Her character gives a raw and riveting soliloquy about female aging and the liberation that comes with it. — Susanna Schrobsdorff, Time, "'Is 55 Too Old to Go on Tinder?' What Dating Looks Like for the Middle-Aged," 6 Aug. 2019 All the women have soliloquys, their chance in a spotlight shining only on them. — Denise Coffey, courant.com, "‘Savannah Sipping Society’ A Performance To Savor," 17 June 2019 Sofia, 18, a theater graduate, performed a 10-minute piece that involved reciting soliloquies from various plays, the Daily Mail reported. — Martha Ross, The Mercury News, "Daughter’s high school graduation gives Felicity Huffman something to celebrate," 11 June 2019 In Ennis’s final soliloquy, after Jack has died (almost surely, as Ennis suspects, from a savage attack by men who know the truth about him), Mr. Wuorinen gets the balance between plaintive expressivity and modernist edginess exactly right. — New York Times, "Review: ‘Brokeback Mountain,’ the Opera, Falls Short of Its Potential," 1 June 2018 And then there was Councilman Curtis Jones Jr., who went on a long soliloquy about McDonald’s. — Mike Newall, Philly.com, "For some in Council, it was Opioids 101. This deep in crisis, that's unacceptable |Mike Newall," 13 Mar. 2018 There are moments of brilliant soliloquy too, showcasing, among other things, Mr. Morris’s finely etched electric guitar lines and Mr. Haynes’s disarmingly direct trumpet tones. — Larry Blumenfeld, WSJ, "‘Igbó Alákorin (The Singer’s Grove), Vol. I & II’ by David Virelles and ‘Pillars’ by Tyshawn Sorey Reviews," 29 Oct. 2018 In a one-man show as the ex-president, actor Philip Baker Hall performs an 87-minute soliloquy. — Don Steinberg, WSJ, "For Filmmakers, Watergate Is the Gift That Keeps on Giving," 23 Oct. 2018 That soliloquy goes a long way to explain her actions. — Julie Kosin, Harper's BAZAAR, "Charlotte Riley on the "Pressure" of Playing Kate Middleton in 'King Charles III'," 14 May 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'soliloquy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for soliloquy
soliloquy
noun
English Language Learners Definition of soliloquy
: a long, usually serious speech that a character in a play makes to an audience and that reveals the character's thoughts
See the full definition for soliloquy in the English Language Learners Dictionary
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