verismo: Meaning and Definition of

ve•ris•mo

Pronunciation: (vu-riz'mōIt.ve-rēz'mô), [key]
— n.
  1. the use of everyday life and actions in artistic works: introduced into opera in the early 1900s in reaction to contemporary conventions, which were seen as artificial and untruthful.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.