Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Of or relating to drama; dramatic: thespian talents.
- adj. Of or relating to Thespis.
- n. An actor or actress.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Of or relating to Thespis, a semi-legendary Greek poet of Icaria in Attica, often called the father of tragedy; relating or pertaining to dramatic acting in general; dramatic; tragic: as, the Thespian art, the drama. The great impulse given to the drama by Thespis consisted in the adjunction to the old dithyrambic chorus of Dionysus of a single actor who might appear successively in several rôles. The first public contest of Thespis is assigned to the year 536 b. c.
- n. An actor.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Of or pertaining to Thespis; hence, relating to the drama; dramatic.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a theatrical performer
- adj. of or relating to drama
Examples
“That sounded strange to me, so I called my thespian friend, Eric Oleson (it's okay to call him that because he's openly thespian).”
“Growing up, Suzy Berger would cringe when she was called a thespian.”
“Frankly I don't know why, it's not like his career has taken off in a different direction or anything, sure it's gone another way, but he's not become known as a thespian all of a sudden!”
“Giamatti’s tormented thespian is attempting to survive an especially grueling stage production of “Uncle Vanya.””
“Very early I recall a thespian named Thoman, who was supported by a Julia Pelby.”
“AYH agree they shouldn't cut joffrey scene, and i also don't think they cut the hound. the cersei / luwin scene makes MUCH more sense, and would relate to the "world class thespian" not being in the pilot, but being in the series a little better than if the "thespian" were the hound.”
“I mean, putting lipstick on a drowning polar bear might create some special mutant kind of thespian polar bear that can act in live-action Coca Cola commercials and subsist entirely on spilled oil and cruise-ship exhaust.”
“While the readings may strike some as overly "thespian," they take on real drama with repeated listens.”
“They went right back to Thespis, the Greek poet and actor genuinely regarded as the father of drama, from whom the word "thespian" derives.”
Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph
“I remember he used the word "thespian", which I had no idea at the time what the word meant.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘thespian’.
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G[r]eek
A collection of words found in English that are either purely Greek or have Greek etymology.
Please add with caution and certainty. Will be regularly updated by me.etymology, philosophy, laconic, disharmony, patriarchic, archaic, phlogiston, aether, aeon, angel, arachnid, rhythm and 346 more...
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GRE Barron's 800
abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abject, abjure, abscission, abscond, abstemious, abstinence, abysmal, accretion and 787 more...
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Film
jidaigeki, samurai, Kurosawa, action, comedy, drama, Bergman, Buñuel, surreal, rotoscope, melodrama, Cinerama and 333 more...
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Words that sound dirty but aren't.
When you want to be pedantic AND childish.
titular, masticate, condiment, titmouse, penal, formication, social intercourse, assassination, cacophony, lucubrate, rectify, banal and 131 more...
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Words sung by: Belle and Sebastian
beguiling, herbaceous, peninsula, suffragette, damascan, hastening, berserk, overtime, leccy, bestow, swathe, arab strap and 193 more...
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March 2012
panache, evanescent, erogenous, vestibule, malfeasance, lacuna, blithering, incubate, breech, tabernacle, pearly, upholstery and 79 more...
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Dirty Words?
flange, shunt, dictum, angina, cunctator, mastication, spelunker, shiitake, rimshot, arsole, forebulge, fecund and 34 more...
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Morthalion's Words
supercilious, kvetch, kvass, splurge, erroneous, pugnacious, macabre, gauche, conglomerate, abyss, paraphernalia, kleptomania and 285 more...
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Real words that I love
Words that make me happy in my pants AND have a place in the dictionary.
enervate, efficacious, basilisk, minotaur, elfin, elephantine, schadenfreude, enigma, emasculate, acidic, appalling, ridiculous and 102 more...
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summerwing's Words
proctosigmoidoscopy, horrendous, cichlid, implode, nostalgic, firmament, elucidate, quintet, rhombus, mack, pithy, rambunctious and 304 more...
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Words I Know
List of most of the words I've learned
garner, abase, abate, abdicate, abduct, aberration, abet, abhor, abide, abject, abjure, abnegation and 1046 more...
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Junk
walrus, fascination, broadway, fickle, downturn, bridge, gargle, rotunda, mesh, fab, shortlife, strumming and 304 more...
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poonis's Words
windswept, brouhaha, nocuous, sanguine, dissonance, diatribe, homunculus, rancor, stupor, resplendent, anecdote, splay and 125 more...
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Vocab
Words that I come across, and go blank, or want to clarify.
nefarious, edifice, malevolent, ostensible, folderol, bauble, livid, amnesty, calculus, saddlery, maisonette, cuisse and 423 more...
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mstuckings's Words
defenestrate, lacklustre, vulgarise, simplistic, generative, astonished, elated, strident, aliquot, deliquescent, pipette, subjunctive and 104 more...
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Faintheart's Words
onomatopoeia, no, terrafactive, word, faint, heart, joy, quixotic, karla, half, amp, tardis and 181 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for thespian.
reesetee Haha! Just my thoughts. Feb 20, 2009
asativum Well, in primary school it might be, depending on the school. Feb 20, 2009
kewpid I thought it was a dirty word in primary school. Feb 18, 2009
dontcry ....aaaaaaaaaaand scene.
*takes a bow* Feb 18, 2009
plethora I haven't heard this word used for the longest time. I'd almost forgotten it exists. Feb 18, 2009
chained_bear BRILLIANT! Feb 18, 2009
tbtabby ACTING! Feb 18, 2009
Prolagus Mary Jo, you're looking thin
You're reading a book, "The State I'm In"
But oh, it doesn't help at all
Cause what you want is a cigarette
And a thespian with a Caravanette in Hull.
(Mary Jo, by Belle and Sebastian) Sep 18, 2008