pan·to·mime
ˈpan-tə-ˌmīm 
1
2
a
: an ancient Roman dramatic performance featuring a solo dancer and a narrative chorus
b
: any of various dramatic or dancing performances in which a story is told by expressive bodily or facial movements of the performers
a ballet that is part dance and part pantomime
c
: a British theatrical entertainment of the Christmas season based on a nursery tale and featuring topical songs, tableaux, and dances
3
a
: conveyance of a story by bodily or facial movements especially in drama or dance
b
: the art or genre of conveying a story by bodily movements only
pantomimed; pantomiming
: to engage in pantomime
: to represent by pantomime
Examples of pantomime in a Sentence
Noun
In the game of charades, one player uses pantomime to represent a word or phrase that the other players have to try to guess.
We saw pantomimes at the fair.
a ballet that is part dance and part pantomime
Verb
He pantomimed someone talking on the phone.
Recent Examples on the Web
Emma Madden, Vulture, 14 Apr. 2025
See Episode 5, where the killer frames a schoolmaster’s murder as suicide within a locked room, the laughably lazy explanation for which wouldn’t appear out of place in a pantomime.
—Jon O'Brien, IndieWire, 20 Mar. 2025
Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 4 May 2025
As Huff ran down the line, Bochy pumped his arms while pantomiming the Herman Munster trot.
—Andrew Baggarly, The Athletic, 22 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pantomime
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Noun
Marina Walked so Chappell Roan could run (to see her set)
While Marina walked around the Coachella stage, singing songs that made a pantomime of Tumblr girls’ deep feelings in the early 2010s, Chappell Roan raced to the front of the crowd.
—Emma Madden, Vulture, 14 Apr. 2025
See Episode 5, where the killer frames a schoolmaster’s murder as suicide within a locked room, the laughably lazy explanation for which wouldn’t appear out of place in a pantomime.
—Jon O'Brien, IndieWire, 20 Mar. 2025
Verb
And Brunson kept up the energy through the show that followed, delivering some devastatingly personal compliment sandwiches during a leadership summit and frantically pantomiming elaborate insults while parked on a ferry.
—Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 4 May 2025
As Huff ran down the line, Bochy pumped his arms while pantomiming the Herman Munster trot.
—Andrew Baggarly, The Athletic, 22 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pantomime
Cite this Entry
“Pantomime.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pantomime. Accessed 25 May. 2025.
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