dramatis personae

[ dram-uh-tis per-soh-nee, drah-muh- ]

noun

1. (used with a plural verb) the characters in a play.
2. (used with a singular verb) a list of the characters preceding the text of a play.

dramatis personae

/ ˈdrɑːmətɪs pəˈsəʊnaɪ /

plural noun

1. the characters or a list of characters in a play or story
2. the main personalities in any situation or event

dramatis personae

1. A Latin expression for “cast of characters .” It means literally “the persons of the drama” and is occasionally used at the beginning of scripts for plays as the title of the list of characters.

Notes

In general, the “dramatis personae” are the participants in an event: “Winston Churchill , Roosevelt , and Joseph Stalin were the dramatis personae at the Yalta Conference.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of dramatis personae¹

1720–30; < Latin: characters of the play

Word History and Origins

Origin of dramatis personae¹

C18: from New Latin

Example Sentences

Compounding the uneasiness, the ensemble introduces the dramatis personae in strokes that can seem unnecessarily broad.

From Los Angeles Times

The toxic male may be on the run in America, but as dramatis personae he remains a close-to-indispensable spice.

From New York Times

The war that ensues between her and the rest of the dramatis personae might then have given the second act higher and sharper stakes.

From New York Times

A new prologue, by the Israeli author Sivan Ben Yishai, is little more than an extended read-through of the dramatis personae.

From New York Times

The dramatis personae include a gaggle of ghosts, who begin to appear to our hero soon after “the kiss of questionable judgment.”

From New York Times

Related Words

• list
• troupe