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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
Stephanie Sengwe, Peoplemag, 17 Mar. 2024
The theatrics are reserved solely for the thespian.
—Brittani Samuel, Washington Post, 22 Mar. 2024
Move over Messi — there’s a new canine thespian in town.
—Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2024
Just look at the number of esteemed thespians who have done incredibly impressive dramatic readings of Bravo soliloquies.
—EW.com, 21 Nov. 2023
More of a thespian than an athlete, Fitzpatrick digs the drama, the colorful costumes (also known as uniforms), and the electric energy of the games.
—Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner, Vogue, 12 Mar. 2024
Agnes is a contrast to Elena’s sycophantic Greek chorus of cheery and bewildered advisors who barely have names and definitely don’t have individual personalities other than that they’re played by pedigreed British thespians (David Bamber, Danny Web and Henry Goodman, among others).
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Feb. 2024
An improv class draws thespians ages 8 to 12, while another course on the fundamentals of auditioning is popular with those ages 11 to 18.
—Michelle Strausbaugh, Kansas City Star, 21 Feb. 2024
Acting Class Bowen Yang is an acting teacher, giving advice on aspiring thespians.
—Andy Hoglund, EW.com, 21 Jan. 2024
Ben McGrath, The New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2024
And thus an enduring collaboration between thespian and costume designer was born.
—Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 13 June 2023
The Golden State bench guard, for a moment, was a thespian playing the role of a bystander to a shocking, violent crime.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 12 Mar. 2024
Club titan Grace Jones, dancehall legend Sister Nancy, and fellow thespian Nia Jones make cameos, while the music shape-shifts through reggae, amapiano, and the sorts of rhythms that dominated jukeboxes in the early rock era.
—Jason Lamphier, EW.com, 13 Dec. 2023
The young actress already had Friends, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Tinker Bell and Hope Floats under her thespian belt.
—Stephanie Sengwe, Peoplemag, 17 Nov. 2023
Order and certainty aren’t typically seen as benefits of the thespian calling, and even Aden doesn’t sound entirely convinced of his own words.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 2 July 2023
As the improviser stumbles through the scene with no knowledge of the text, the thespian diligently sticks to the script.
—Thomas Floyd, Washington Post, 28 June 2023
Though Blood and Honey certainly won’t be winning any awards for innovative writing or legendary thespian performance, its macabre absurdity and inordinate gore are enough to buoy the film’s ability to offer rote amusement with a cynical depravity.
—Colin Scanlon, Redbook, 14 June 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'thespian.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near thespian
Cite this Entry
“Thespian.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thespian. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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