Kabuki Form Japanese Drama Man Kah Boo Kee Includes Highly

kabuki /kah-BOO-kee, KAH-boo-kee/

1. A form of Japanese drama that includes highly stylized movements, dances, singing, and miming, and all parts are played by males.

2. Done for the show only; make-believe.

[From Japanese kabuki, from ka (song) + bu (dance) + ki (skill). Apparently this is a reinterpreted form of the verb kabuku (to lean, deviate, or act dissolutely). Kabuki is the popular form of the older Noh, the classical drama of Japan. Earliest documented use: 1899.]

"I think a first date should go like this: The man reaches for the check, the woman offers to split it, the man declines, saying 'No, I've got it.' It's a bit of Kabuki theater." - Andrea Pyros; You're Paying, Right?; Denver Post (Colorado); Nov 12, 2012.

"In the kabuki theatre of British parliamentary politics, great crimes do not happen and criminals go free." - John Pilger; Let's Learn from Blair's Mistakes; New Statesman (London, UK); Feb 20, 2012.

"Cokie Roberts: This week though, really, is a kabuki dance. Everybody is going through motions that they know are going to lead nowhere." - Deadline Still Hangs Over Debt-Ceiling Talks; Morning Edition; National Public Radio (Washington, DC); Jul 18, 2011.