Pronunciation: (mel'u-drä"mu, -dram"u), [key]
1. a dramatic form that does not observe the laws of cause and effect and that exaggerates emotion and emphasizes plot or action at the expense of characterization.
2. melodramatic behavior or events.
3. (in the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries) a romantic dramatic composition with music interspersed.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.