melodramatize

American

[mel-uh-dram-uh-tahyz, -drah-muh-] / ˌmɛl əˈdræm əˌtaɪz, -ˈdrɑ mə- /

especially British, melodramatise

verb (used with object)

melodramatized, melodramatizing

to make melodramatic.
to turn (a novel, story, etc.) into a melodrama.

melodramatize British

/ ˌmɛləʊˈdræməˌtaɪz /

verb

(tr) to make melodramatic

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of melodramatize

First recorded in 1810–20; melodrama + (drama)tize

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It would have been a simple matter to melodramatize or caricature these soldiers' stories.

From Time Magazine Archive

The film's strength is its refusal to melodramatize a situation whose inherent horror needs no melodrama.

From Time Magazine Archive

O. Henry came very near to her, but did he not melodramatize her a little, sometimes cheapen her by his epigrammatic appraisal, fit her too neatly into his plot?

From Pipefuls by Morley, Christopher

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023