What does "curtain-raiser" mean?

In a theater, an initial play, musical performance, etc., which precedes the main performance.

What is a synonym for "curtain-raiser"?

Common synonyms include: preamble, prologue, warm-up act.

Curtain-raiser

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
In a theater, an initial play, musical performance, etc., which precedes the main performance.
"[H]e had tried all kinds: comedy, tragedy, prose and verse, the light curtain-raiser, the short sharp drama, the bourgeoisrealistic and the lyrical-romantic."
2
A prelude or introduction to an activity or thing. broadly, idiomatic
"It is my opinion that your part in the affair is only a curtain-raiser to graver things."

Synonyms

All synonyms

preamble prologue warm-up act

Antonyms

All antonyms

final curtain

Example

More examples

"[H]e had tried all kinds: comedy, tragedy, prose and verse, the light curtain-raiser, the short sharp drama, the bourgeoisrealistic and the lyrical-romantic."

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.