Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A puff, as of flame.
- noun Opera bouffe; comic opera. See
opera .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Comic opera. See
opera bouffe .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun music A
comic opera
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun opera with a happy ending and in which some of the text is spoken
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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But that is your illustration; I would rather say opera bouffe, which is probably the truest copy of Life -- if we were limited to one kind.
A Pessimist In Theory and Practice Frederic Mayer Bird 1873
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The accompaniment was played on the American organ, moved for that occasion up to the platform, but even that could not detract from the passionate pride and fire with which Miss Clairville rendered that spirited song, so far removed from opera "bouffe" or "comic" opera; indeed the noble character of the first strain was considerably enhanced by the church-like quality of the accompaniment.
Ringfield A Novel 1897
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Hunched within its floodlit new-build, English cricket is now surfing the finest margins, dependent on the grande bouffe of the Saturday spree merchant, and not so much in bed with the purveyors of walk-up hospitality as sweatily intertwined on the main stairs.
Sozzled - how English cricket got lost in drink | Barney Ronay 2011
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Hunched within its floodlit new-build, English cricket is now surfing the finest margins, dependent on the grande bouffe of the Saturday spree merchant, and not so much in bed with the purveyors of walk-up hospitality as sweatily intertwined on the main stairs.
Sozzled - how English cricket got lost in drink | Barney Ronay 2011
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That's not a bouffe, it's the beginning of our misery.
Dan Agin: How It Was: Fatuosity and the Great Depression 2009
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You may, of course, disregard the whole thing without fear of violent reprisals: anapestic little bouffe
Toast: Lindy 2007
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This really is entering the opera bouffe stage, the final tragic-comic scenes in the drama of the Clinton loss of power.
Bill Clinton: Hillary Will Win The Popular Vote In Primary States 2009
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Love that stuff. little bouffe-I think that cooking professionally would have a similar effect on me.
Repetoire Lindy 2007
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All policy disasters committed by any political party reach this opera-bouffe stage at some point.
McCain In New Hampshire Paper: Without More Troops, We Won't Win 2009
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As someone who actually lived through all of the Great Depression, I feel like it's an endless bouffe.
Dan Agin: How It Was: Fatuosity and the Great Depression 2009
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