Motown
Americannoun
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Also called Motown sound. an upbeat, often pop-influenced style of rhythm and blues associated with the city of Detroit and with numerous Black vocalists and vocal groups since the 1950s, characterized by compact, danceable arrangements.
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a nickname for Detroit, Michigan.
noun
Etymology
Origin of Motown
First recorded in 1965–70; from Motown, proprietary name for records released by the Motown Record Corporation of Detroit, Michigan, shortened from Motor Town, in reference to Detroit's major role as a motor vehicle producer
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“My mom was into Motown… my dad into the Mexican standards and jazz.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 4, 2026
Forward-thinking enough to reinvent the guitar-bass-drums palette for the EDM boom; yet stark and lovelorn enough to pass for Motown in another era.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2026
"There's a thing I miss in in pop music today, which is that kind of Motown feeling, that classic feeling, that analogue feeling," she said.
From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026
"There's a there's a thing I miss in in pop music today, which is that kind of Motown feeling, that classic feeling, that analogue feeling," she told me last year.
From BBC • Mar. 26, 2026
I’m too focused on his lips and smile and eyes to listen to his lessons on Motown and a man named Berry Gordy who started it all.
From "American Street" by Ibi Zoboi
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
