Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A subgenre of science fiction characterized by extraterrestrial settings and having melodramatic plots typical of soap operas.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A subgenre of
speculative fiction orscience fiction that emphasizes space travel, romantic adventure, and larger-than-life characters often set against vast exotic settings. Used initially as a derogatory term. - noun A subgenre of
speculative fiction orscience fiction that utilises serialisation. - noun countable A work or production in this style.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Coined by Wilson “Bob” Tucker (1914–2006), American science fiction writer, on the model of horse opera and soap opera.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Compound of space + opera. The term was originally derived from the term horse opera and thus indirectly from soap opera, and was coined to describe a specific hackneyed science fiction writing style.
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