All 5 Uses

opera
in
An Ideal Husband
(Auto-generated)

Why, he rides in the Row at ten o'clock in the morning, goes to the Opera three times a week, changes his clothes at least five times a day, and dines out every night of the season.†
Act 1

opera = a musical play with orchestra in which most of the dialogue is sung (or the art form that consists of such musicals; or describing something as related to that art form)
I hear she went to the Opera on Monday night,
Act 1 *

opera = a classical music play in which most of the dialogue is sung
I dare say I lost it at the Opera, before we came on here.†
Act 2

opera = a musical play with orchestra in which most of the dialogue is sung (or the art form that consists of such musicals; or describing something as related to that art form)
Ah yes, I suppose it must have been at the Opera.†
Act 2
She ultimately was so broken-hearted that she went into a convent, or on to the operatic stage, I forget which.†
Act 2

operatic = relating to classical music plays in which most of the dialogue is sung

Definitions:

(1) (opera)
a form of musical theater with orchestra in which most of the words are sung, often in a classical style and sometimes in a foreign language
(2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
Less commonly, the expression, soap opera, refers to a television or radio program that typically runs for many years and dramatizes the lives of a group of characters.