pantomime means A Classical comic actor, especially one who works mainly through gesture and mime. It carries an Arena rating of 1901, earned across 67 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, pantomime ranks #104 of 13,218 for Most Malleable Words, #535 of 13,218 for Most Storied Words, #761 of 13,218 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #1,769 of 13,218 for Most Satisfying to Say.
pantomime is pronounced /ˈpæn.təˌmʌɪm/.
Why “pantomime” is a great word
PANTOMIME — [Noun, Verb] A theatrical entertainment, especially a traditional British Christmas show for children, involving music, topical jokes, and slapstick comedy based on a fairy tale; or, to express or convey something through gesture without speech. From Latin pantomīmus, from Ancient Greek παντόμιμος (pantómimos), from πᾶς (pâs, "all, every") + μιμέομαι (miméomai, "to imitate, mimic"). First attested in English c. 1606. Unlike "mime"—a silent, illusionistic art of precision—or "farce"—a frantic comedy of improbable situations—pantomime is a boisterous, codified, and participatory ritual of inversion. It is the scent of damp wool and oranges in a winter-dark theatre, the flash of a Principal Boy's thigh-high boots, and the collective roar of "He's behind you!" from a thousand untuned voices—a gaudy, seasonal insistence that all stories can be inhabited by everyone at once, proving ritual requires not solemnity, but glitter and noise.
Etymology
First appears c. 1606, from Latin pantomīmus, from Ancient Greek παντόμιμος (pantómimos), from πᾶς (pâs, “each, all”) + μιμέομαι (miméomai, “to mimic”). The verbal form first appears c. 1768.
noun
- A Classical comic actor, especially one who works mainly through gesture and mime.“[He] saw a pantomime perform so well that he could follow the performance from the action alone.”
- The drama in ancient Greece and Rome featuring such performers; or (later) any of various kinds of performance modelled on such work.
- A traditional theatrical entertainment, originally based on the commedia dell'arte, but later aimed mostly at children and involving physical comedy, topical jokes, call and response, and fairy-tale plots.“With the Stoke supporters jeering Ziv's every subsequent touch, the pantomime atmosphere created by the home crowd reached a crescendo when Ziv was shown a straight red shortly after the break in extraordinary circumstances.”
- The act of gesturing without speaking; a dumb-show, a mime.“A staid, steadfast man, whose life for the most part was a telling pantomime of action, and not a tame chapter of sounds.”
verb
- To make (a gesture) without speaking.“I pantomimed steering a car; he understood, and tossed the keys to me.”
- To entertain others by silent gestures or actions.
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