Soliloquy

soliloquy

noun so·lil·o·quy \sə-ˈli-lə-kwē\

: a long, usually serious speech that a character in a play makes to an audience and that reveals the character's thoughts

Full Definition of SOLILOQUY

: the act of talking to oneself

: a dramatic monologue that represents a series of unspoken reflections

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Examples of SOLILOQUY

But if it is hard for the theatergoer to catch all the meanings in Macbeth's rippling soliloquies, then how much harder is that task when Shakespeare seems unable or unwilling to unpack his obscurities. —James Wood, New Republic, 26 June 2000
A funny thing happened to Billy Joel on the way to the recording studio recently. “I was walking down the street,” he says, “and there was this big guy with long, stringy, greasy hair just talking to the air—screaming, actually. He was in the middle of this angry soliloquy when he looked at me, stopped and said in a regular voice, ‘Hey, Billy, how ya doin'?’ And then he went right back into his tirade.” —Elysa Gardner, Rolling Stone, 10 June 1993
After Allen left, what became known as “The Tonight Show” fell into the hands of a genuine original. Jack Paar was an eminently normal-looking man, a former G.I. entertainer who planted himself at a desk instead of scampering around like Allen had. He would begin his shows in a low, well-modulated voice, exuding a dangerous calm. Then, periodically, but never predictably, he would lurch into disgruntled, pathetic soliloquies, decrying some indignity visited upon him by the network or the press. —Alex Ross, New Republic, 8 Nov. 1993
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Late Latin soliloquium, from Latin solus alone + loqui to speak

First Known Use: circa 1613