noun

• (archaic, uncountable) A kind of drama having a musical accompaniment to intensify the effect of certain scenes.
• (countable) A drama abounding in romantic sentiment and agonizing situations, with a musical accompaniment only in parts which are especially thrilling or pathetic. In opera, a passage in which the orchestra plays a somewhat descriptive accompaniment, while the actor speaks
• (uncountable, figuratively, colloquial) Any situation or action which is blown out of proportion.