as in masterpiece
something (as a work of art) that is a great achievement and often its creator's greatest achievement
this symphony is usually considered Beethoven's magnum opus
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Recent Examples of magnum opus
The studio and the filmmaker are teaming up to adapt Stephen King’s magnum opus.
—
Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 24 June 2025
Buckley would never finish his magnum opus of political philosophy, to be titled The Revolt Against the Masses, a reference to the Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset’s classic Revolt of the Masses.
—Foreign Affairs, 24 June 2025
Advertisement Three movies into this saga, with two still to come, does Boyle ultimately care how people classify his horror magnum opus?
—Megan McCluskey, Time, 16 June 2025
It’s been almost a decade since Elon Musk stood in front of a crowd in Guadalajara, Mexico, and unveiled his magnum opus of a plan to take us all, or at least our species, to Mars.
—Eric MacK, Forbes.com, 27 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for magnum opus
Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 24 June 2025
Buckley would never finish his magnum opus of political philosophy, to be titled The Revolt Against the Masses, a reference to the Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset’s classic Revolt of the Masses.
—Foreign Affairs, 24 June 2025
Advertisement Three movies into this saga, with two still to come, does Boyle ultimately care how people classify his horror magnum opus?
—Megan McCluskey, Time, 16 June 2025
It’s been almost a decade since Elon Musk stood in front of a crowd in Guadalajara, Mexico, and unveiled his magnum opus of a plan to take us all, or at least our species, to Mars.
—Eric MacK, Forbes.com, 27 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for magnum opus
Recent Examples of Synonyms for magnum opus
masterpiece
Noun
-
An ultra-modern masterpiece baked into a verdant slope in Luxembourg‘s commune of Kopstal has just arrived on the market at $4.5 million.—
Demetrius Simms,
Robb Report,
10 July 2025
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Surrounded by stately guild houses, City Hall and the King’s House, the city’s must-see main square, Grand-Place, is a masterpiece of Belgian Baroque architecture.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
10 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Magnum opus.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/magnum%20opus. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.
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