theme S2 W2 AC / θim / 名词 [可数名词]

1 subject the main subject or idea in a piece of writing, speech, film etc :

The book’s theme is the conflict between love and duty.

main/central/major etc theme

Campbell has made health care a central theme in his campaign.

Nature is a recurrent theme (= a theme that appears repeatedly ) in Frost’s poetry.

Most of Kurt’s other pictures were variations on the same theme .

2 theme music/song/tune music or a song that is often played during a film or musical play, or at the beginning and end of a television or radio programme :

the theme song from ‘The Brady Bunch’

3 repeated tune a short simple tune that is repeated and developed in a piece of music :

Freia’s theme in Wagner’s opera

4 style a particular style :

Her bedroom is decorated in a Victorian theme.

5 piece of writing American English old-fashioned a short piece of writing on a particular subject that you do for school 同义词 essay

theme on

Your homework is to write a two-page theme on pollution.

COLLOCATIONS

形容词

the main/central/dominant theme The main theme of the book is the importance of honesty.

a major theme Cultural change is the second major theme of his work.

a common theme Death and rebirth is a common theme in Eliot’s poetry.

a recurrent/recurring theme (= one that appears several times ) Returning to traditional values was a major theme of the president’s speech.

an underlying theme (= one that is important but not very noticeable ) One of the book’s underlying themes is the struggle for human rights.

a universal theme (= subjects that affect people of all races and cultures ) Readers everywhere can relate to the universal themes in his work.

短语

variations on a theme (= things with a similar basic subject, style etc ) Most of her short stories are variations on the theme of tragedy.