melodrama vs drama

melodrama and drama both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
melodrama	Yes	No	No	No
drama	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, drama is a hypernym of melodrama; that is, drama is a word with a broader meaning than melodrama:

melodrama: an extravagant comedy in which action is more salient than characterization
drama: the literary genre of works intended for the theater

melodrama (noun)	drama (noun)
an extravagant comedy in which action is more salient than characterization	the quality of being arresting or highly emotional
	the literary genre of works intended for the theater
	a dramatic work intended for performance by actors on a stage
	an episode that is turbulent or highly emotional