genre

American  

[zhahn-ruh, zhahn-r^uh] / ˈʒɑn rə, ˈʒɑ̃ rə /

noun

• genres
  plural

1. a class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular form, content, technique, or the like.

   the genre of epic poetry; the genre of symphonic music.

2. Fine Arts.

   1. paintings in which scenes of everyday life form the subject matter.

   2. a realistic style of painting using such subject matter.

3. genus; kind; sort; style.

---

adjective

1. Fine Arts. of or relating to genre.

2. of or relating to a distinctive literary type.

genre British  

/ ˈʒɑːnrə /

noun

1. 1. kind, category, or sort, esp of literary or artistic work

   2. ( as modifier )

      genre fiction

2. a category of painting in which domestic scenes or incidents from everyday life are depicted

---

genre Cultural  

1. The kind or type of a work of art, from the French, meaning “kind” or “genus.” Literary genres include the novel and the sonnet. Musical genres include the concerto and the symphony. Film genres include Westerns and horror movies.

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• genres
  plural

Etymology

Origin of genre

First recorded in 1760–70; from French: “kind, sort”; see gender ¹

Explanation

A genre is a specific type of music, film, or writing. Your favorite literary genre might be science fiction, and your favorite film genre might be horror flicks about cheerleaders. Go figure. In music, genre refers to musical style such as jazz, salsa or rock. In film or literature, the genre is determined by the subject, setting or plot of the story. When you are wandering around a book store, books are usually arranged by genre. Many genres, such as "mystery" or "fantasy," overlap in film and literature, while others, such as "romantic comedy" in film or "historical fiction" in books, are specific to one or the other.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

genre genres

Belonging to a genre that tends toward the reductive, biopics can often be sorted into two categories.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

His influence and attitude guided the genre forward.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

Thus far, AI scandals have largely cropped up in works of genre fiction, not among literary prizewinners.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

FoodNeverComes belongs to a new internet genre: "dopamine sites", which recreate the rituals of consumption without the consumption.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

Though Jelly Roll called a lot of his numbers ‘Blues’, we now know this as the beginning of a distinct genre of its own: jazz.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

A live DJ plays a mix of hip-hop, pop and other high-energy genres as a host hypes up the crowd.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026

They wrote and produced their own songs, shaped their own streetwear image and blended genres ranging from hip-hop and R&B to trot, a traditional South Korean folk genre.

From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026

Participating bands tend to fall into genres that organizers find engage crowds most, including Bluegrass, rock, blues and Americana.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026

But coppersmith/silversmith Ben Caldwell defines the form as “not influenced by Europe,” which makes it notable among American genres.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

How was classical music going to respond to this new, potentially fatal relationship between mass audiences and new genres that were irresistible to them?

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Related Words

• brand
• category
• character
• fashion
• kind
• style