Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A type of popular Japanese drama, evolved from the older No theater, in which elaborately costumed performers, nowadays men only, use stylized movements, dances, and songs in order to enact tragedies and comedies.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Alternative spelling of kabuki.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Japanese, art of singing and dancing : ka, singing (from Middle Chinese ka; also the source of Mandarin) + bu, dancing; see buto + ki, art, artist (from Middle Chinese kɦi`; also the source of Mandarin).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Japanese 歌舞伎 (kabuki).

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Examples

  • But I tell you, I always know when I sit down, when there is what I call the Kabuki, where there is no interest to get anything done at that particular meeting.

    NewsBlaze.com Current News - Top Stories 2009

  • 1 In using the term Kabuki I am not intending to disparage Chinese forms of drama.

    Japan’s war guilt 2006

  • Circle of Blood recounts the origins of the government operative known as Kabuki who works in Japan’s near future, It’s an exploration of the relationship between Japan’s government and organized crime on a truly epic scale!

    Image Comics for June 2009 | Major Spoilers - Comic Book Reviews and News 2009

  • It may be part of what bankers call the Kabuki dance to scorn a suitor's first advances in the hope of getting a better offer.

    Buyout Targets Should Have Gone for It 2008

  • Could this be one of those fake Japanese restaurants – like Kabuki, which is Korean-owned?

    Archive 2006-02-01 e d b m 2006

  • Could this be one of those fake Japanese restaurants – like Kabuki, which is Korean-owned?

    Garbage Pail Food #1: Yokohama Ramen, Los Angeles e d b m 2006

  • The evening's performance of Wagner's "Lohengrin" in Robert Wilson's minimalist, "Kabuki"-style production, was strongly cast up and down the line, but German lyric tenor Klaus Florian Vogt, right, was still a stand-out by any standards.

    Archive 2006-05-01 Will 2006

  • They were in that part of Shinjuku known as Kabuki-cho, the older district, crammed with pachinko parlours, restaurants, topless bars, movie houses and theatres.

    Black Blade Lustbader, Eric Van 1992

  • Although wielded by four puppeteers clad from head to toe in black in the manner of the scenery-shifting kuroko in Japanese Kabuki theater, the puppet nevertheless has a strong will of its own.

    The Seattle Times 2011

  • That's not to diminish the visual appeal of Kabuki, which is considerable.

    Evening Standard - Home 2010

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