leitmotif

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments (3)  · 
“
The campaign has a ‘change†™ leitmotif, and will run in a three-phased manner till September-end.

View all »
Definitions (3)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun A melodic passage or phrase, especially in Wagnerian opera, associated with a specific character, situation, or element.
  2. noun A dominant and recurring theme, as in a novel.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (46)

  • Ellery suspected that among Thurlow's thoughts ran one like a Wagnerian leitmotif: The Queen is dead; long live the King. —  PARTONE
  • As usual, as we approach the end of the season, the leitmotif which has been with us throughout, namely which is the number one driver in our line-up, is getting to be more and more of a topic for the media. —  F1technical.net . Formula One news
  • Indeed the need for protection and the feeling of woundedness thread through their letters like a leitmotif. —  signandsight.com
  • The campaign has a ‘change†™ leitmotif, and will run in a three-phased manner till September-end. —  Elections - fresh news by plazoo.com
  • Federalist leitmotif, even in the numbers written by a younger and wiser Madison. —  City Journal
More examples »
 

Tags

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 48 times.

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Etymologies (1)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. German Leitmotiv : leiten, to lead (from Middle High German, from Old High German leitan; see leit- in Indo-European roots) + Motiv, motif (from French motif; see motif).
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »
by American Heritage

Charts
frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word about once a year.

Recently looked up

slurp · Erse · Muster · intend · forks

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

eu oi oìa u ou e u oìa · the octopi are dry · Kansas City · spell it rite · put it in your pocket