Definition of "soliloquy" [so•lil•o•quy]

• A dramatic or literary form of discourse in which a character talks to himself or herself or reveals his or her thoughts without addressing a listener. (noun)
• A specific speech or piece of writing in this form of discourse. (noun)
• The act of speaking to oneself. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The lengthy trumpet solo near the end, which the program notes advise is an orchestrated soliloquy from the opera on a John Donne poem, was only the most prominent example."
• "Says Greenburg, noting the show also starred Brett Favre when his Hamlet-like soliloquy is once again being treated as news: "I'm happy with the show — an excellent show.""
• "She or he has a fundamental interest in its practicability, in fact his or her own identity and degree of self-awareness depends upon it: the conversation of soliloquy is "our sovereign remedy and gymnastic method" (84)."