genre

[ zhahn-ruh; French zhahn-ruh ]
See synonyms for: genregenres on Thesaurus.com

noun,plural gen·res [zhahn-ruhz; French zhahn-ruh]. /ˈʒɑn rəz; French ˈʒɑ̃ rə/.
  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.

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

    • a realistic style of painting using such subject matter.

  1. genus; kind; sort; style.

adjective
  1. Fine Arts. of or relating to genre.

  2. of or relating to a distinctive literary type.

Origin of genre

1
First recorded in 1760–70; from French: “kind, sort”; see gender1

Words Nearby genre

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use genre in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for genre

genre

/ (ˈʒɑːnrə) /


noun
    • kind, category, or sort, esp of literary or artistic work

    • (as modifier): genre fiction

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

Origin of genre

1
C19: from French, from Old French gendre; see gender

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for genre

genre

[ (zhahn-ruh) ]


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.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.