Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A short performance, typically a ballet, that is presented as an interlude in an opera, play, or other entertainment.
- noun A diversion; an amusement.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A short ballet, or other entertainment, between the acts of a play.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An
entertaining diversion - noun ballet A short
ballet within a larger work, usually providing a break from the main plot
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word divertissement.
Examples
-
The divertissement is a happy coda to the drama, and a standard device of 19th-century classical ballet.
ABT's Disneyfied <i>Sleeping Beauty</i> Shorter But Broken 2008
-
The divertissement is a happy coda to the drama, and a standard device of 19th-century classical ballet.
ABT's Disneyfied <i>Sleeping Beauty</i> Shorter But Broken 2008
-
Let's remember the facts as we watch this play out: Osama bin Laden is still at large, Iraq has been devastated, and our government is treating us to a little "divertissement" with some monkey trials.
-
The quartet complies fully with that aeronautic directive during the second act, in a divertissement billed ominously as the Wheel of Death.
A Family Wired For Thrills Joanne Kaufman 2011
-
Some directorial conceits—such as introducing characters playing a visiting dance troupe to give meaning to the closing act's traditional divertissement—are something of a stretch, but they don't derail the ballet's narrative.
Neapolitan Sunshine Brightens Danish Gloom Robert Greskovic 2011
-
In the divertissement of The Dying Swan Madame Pavlova was again in white, but she invested its neutrality with a completely new expression — that of tragedy.
Archive 2009-05-01 2009
-
It always makes trouble, and it is a very expensive divertissement.
-
The marketplace scene, with its bustling environment, would have seemed a natural opportunity to present acrobatic acts and the like in a ballet divertissement tradition, but only random, brief examples occurred.
-
Some directorial conceits—such as introducing characters playing a visiting dance troupe to give meaning to the closing act's traditional divertissement—are something of a stretch, but they don't derail the ballet's narrative.
Neapolitan Sunshine Brightens Danish Gloom Robert Greskovic 2011
-
In the divertissement of The Dying Swan Madame Pavlova was again in white, but she invested its neutrality with a completely new expression — that of tragedy.
Further Pavlova 2009
andydarby commented on the word divertissement
I like this word a lot or at least I did once I looked up the definition - but I think we should drop an 's' and create a new word, that conveys the POV of the person who enjoys being subjected to advertising beautifully.
April 1, 2008