opus means A work of music or set of works with a specified rank in an ordering of a composer's complete published works. It carries an Arena rating of 1454, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, opus ranks #638 of 17,113 for Most Elegant Words, #927 of 17,116 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #1,760 of 17,123 for Most Malleable Words, #3,233 of 17,130 for Most Ingenious Words.
opus is pronounced /ˈəʊpəs/.
Why “opus” is a great word
A single, numbered work—typically a musical composition—that stands as a formal unit within an artist's creative output. From the Latin opus ("work, labor, a work"). Unlike "oeuvre" (which encompasses a lifetime's collective labor) or "piece" (a casual, general creation), an opus is a deliberate monument, isolated and enshrined by its own numeral. It is the crisp authority of a concert program listing "Op. 27, No. 2," the weight of a bound manuscript in a pianist's hands, and the hush before the first note cracks the air; each number a milestone on the solitary path where labor becomes legacy, the strange dignity of having mattered enough to be ordered.
noun
- A work of music or set of works with a specified rank in an ordering of a composer's complete published works.e.g.“Beethoven's "Razumovsky" Quartets, Op. 59, are considered by many to be the beginning of the Romantic era.”
- A work, especially of art.e.g.“The painter's last opus was a dedication to all things living, in a surprising contrast to all of his prior work.”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- oeuvre 59% match — A work of art, music or literature. vs opus →
- opuscule 58% match — A small or petty work. vs opus →
- opera 54% match — A theatrical work, combining drama, music, song and sometimes dance. vs opus →
- octuor 53% match — Synonym of octet (“a composition for eight instruments or voices”). vs opus →
- ordo 52% match — A musical phrase constructed from one or more statements of one modal pattern and ending in a rest. vs opus →
- oratorio 50% match — A musical composition, often based on a religious theme; similar to opera but with no costume, scenery or acting. vs opus →
- operettist 50% match — The composer of an operetta. vs opus →
- masterwork 49% match — A piece done to prove possession of skill sufficient to be ranked a master. vs opus →