kabuki

noun

1. (capitalized, often, uncountable)A form of Japanese theatre in which elaborately costumed male performers use stylized movements, dances, and songs in order to enact tragedies and comedies.

   “Despite its self-consciously assumed irreverence toward traditional practices, “Hokaibo” incorporates all the essential elements of classic Kabuki: the all-male company of actors, exaggerated makeup, the stomping dances, the arresting, cross-eyed poses at moments of high drama that are recognized and applauded.”

   “Ichikawa, whose real name is Takahiko Kinoshi, made his kabuki debut in 1980 and went on to become one of the country’s most renowned performers.”

2. (US, broadly, figuratively, uncountable)A stylized, pretentious, and often hollow performance; (especially) political posturing.

   “The whole "weapons of mass destruction" concern was phony from the start, and the drama about inspections was just kabuki: going through the motions.”

   “Health care reform recently brought Kabuki to mind for both Rush Limbaugh—“what you have here is ‘Kabuki theater’”—and New York Times columnist Frank Rich: “[I]f I were to place an incautious bet on which political event will prove the most significant of February 2010, I wouldn’t choose the kabuki health care summit.””

   “The boy tells her she will find iPhone chargers if she takes five steps back. Here the performance shifts from mere stiltedness to a kind of hateful Kabuki, an affected defiance of how people naturally act: She walks backward, counting her steps, then turns and slaps her forehead.”

3. (alt-of, uncountable)Alternative letter-case form of kabuki.