noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
/ɒpəˈɹɛtə/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:AA2 P ER0 EH1 T AH0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A lighter version of opera with a frivolous story and spoken dialogue.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
a short amusing opera
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: light opera
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: comic opera, opera bouffe, bouffe, opera comique
History
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian operetta.
Across languages
Translations
35 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
أوبريت
(ʔōberēt)
— lighter version of opera
Belarusian:
аперэ́та
(apjeréta)
— lighter version of opera
Bulgarian:
опере́та
(operéta)
— lighter version of opera
Catalan:
opereta
— lighter version of opera
Chinese Mandarin:
輕歌劇 /轻歌剧
(qīnggējù)
— lighter version of opera
Chinese Mandarin:
滑稽歌劇 /滑稽歌剧
(huájīgējù)
— lighter version of opera
Czech:
opereta
— lighter version of opera
Dutch:
operette
— lighter version of opera
Finnish:
operetti
— lighter version of opera
French:
opérette
— lighter version of opera
Galician:
opereta
— lighter version of opera
German:
Operette
— lighter version of opera
Greek:
οπερέτα
(operéta)
— lighter version of opera
Ido:
opereto
— lighter version of opera
Italian:
operetta
— lighter version of opera
Japanese:
喜歌劇
(kikageki)
— lighter version of opera
Japanese:
軽歌劇
(keikageki)
— lighter version of opera
Japanese:
オペレッタ
(operetta)
— lighter version of opera
Korean:
오페레타
(opereta)
— lighter version of opera
Korean:
희가극
(huigageuk)
— lighter version of opera
Korean:
경가극
(gyeonggageuk)
— lighter version of opera
Mongolian:
хошин дуурь
(xošin duurʹ)
— lighter version of opera
Norwegian Bokmål:
operette
— lighter version of opera
Norwegian Nynorsk:
operette
— lighter version of opera
Persian:
اپرت
(operet)
— lighter version of opera
Piedmontese:
operëtta
— lighter version of opera
Polish:
operetka
— lighter version of opera
Portuguese:
opereta
— lighter version of opera
Russian:
опере́тта
(operétta)
— lighter version of opera
Slovene:
opereta
— lighter version of opera
Spanish:
opereta
— lighter version of opera
Swedish:
operett
— lighter version of opera
Turkish:
operet
— lighter version of opera
Ukrainian:
опере́та
(operéta)
— lighter version of opera
Yiddish:
אָפּערעטע
(operete)
— lighter version of opera
