four-act play
- noun
- Archaic
:
obra de cuatro actos
- Her thesis analyzed the dramatic tension in a four-act play compared to a three-act format.
Examples
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The new four-act play received rave reviews.
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Many of Chekhov's works are structured as a four-act play with a clear progression of action.
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The director chose to stage a classic four-act play for the theatre festival.
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Did you see the four-act play at the theater?
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The audience was captivated by the intricate plot of the new four-act play performed last night.
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Many classic stories have been adapted into a four-act play to explore deeper themes through distinct sections.
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During the festival, several four-act plays showcased the evolution of theatre in the early twentieth century.
Antonyms
How Many Acts
- Archaic
3
3.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
four-act + play
The meaning 'a play divided into four acts' is directly and compositionally derived from 'four' + 'act' modifying 'play' — a straightforward numeral + noun compound describing structure. This adjective-noun construction is transparent and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Four-act play names a play made of four separate acts, like four short chapters in a book. One simple picture is an old theatre where the long story stopped three times for the curtain and costume changes, so the phrase came to mean 'a play divided into four parts'.