Meaning & use
pantomime
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountableBritish
A British stage show, usually staged at Christmas, with songs, jokes and a fairy-tale plot in which the audience joins in noisily.
Grammar: Countable for a show (a pantomime), uncountable for the tradition (pantomime is popular).
Patterns
- go to the pantomime
- a pantomime of something
Every December our family goes to the pantomime at the local theatre.
The audience shouted 'He's behind you!' during the pantomime.
She played the fairy godmother in the school pantomime.
noununcountable
Acting or communicating with gestures and facial expressions instead of words.
Grammar: Often called mime in American English: she did a pantomime of eating.
Patterns
- in pantomime
- do a pantomime of something
He explained the broken lift in pantomime because they shared no language.
The performer's pantomime of climbing a rope fooled the crowd.
The lesson began with a short pantomime about waiting for a bus.
nouncountableBritishinformalfigurative
A situation or event that is absurd or exaggerated, like a farce.
Grammar: Used figuratively, often critically: the meeting was a pantomime.
Patterns
- a pantomime of something
The committee's vote was a complete pantomime, because the result had been decided earlier.
Journalists described the debate as political pantomime.
Word forms
| plural | pantomimes |
|---|
Common combinations
- Christmas pantomime
- The Christmas pantomime sold out in a day.
- pantomime dame
- The pantomime dame was played by a well-known comedian.
- pantomime villain
- He played the pantomime villain, booed by the children.
- in pantomime
- She told the story in pantomime.
- a pantomime horse
- Two actors squeezed into a pantomime horse costume.
Synonyms and how they differ
- mime
- Mime is the usual word for wordless acting and is the standard American term, but it does not mean the British Christmas show.
- farce
- A farce is a comedy built on silly situations, whereas a pantomime is a specific festive show with songs and audience calls.
- charade
- A charade, used figuratively, is a pretense meant to fool people, which is more deceptive than a pantomime of absurdity.
Word family
- pantomimic adjective
- relating to or like pantomime
- pantomimist noun
- a performer of pantomime
- pantomime verb
- to act something out using gestures only
Commonly confused: pantomime or mime?
pantomime vs mime
Mime is silent acting; British pantomime is a noisy, talkative stage show, so the two are not the same.
Practice
An American visitor in London is told the family will go to the 'panto' in December. What are they going to see?
Choose one answer.
Panto is short for pantomime, the British Christmas show with songs and audience participation. The silent-performance option describes mime, which is the other meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pantomime”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.