composer

American  

[kuhm-poh-zer] / kəmˈpoʊ zər /

noun

• composers
  plural

1. a person or thing that composes.

2. a person who writes music.

3. an author.

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composer British  

/ kəmˈpəʊzə /

noun

1. a person who composes music

2. a person or machine that composes anything, esp type for printing

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• composers
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of composer

First recorded in 1555–65; compose + -er ¹

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Explanation

A composer is an artist who writes music to be played or performed by musicians. A classical composer might work by writing out musical notation and trying things out on the piano. If you're a composer, you most likely write classical, jazz, music for film, or another type of primarily instrumental music, without lyrics. A writer of popular or rock music is more likely to be called a "songwriter." A composer might compose symphonies as a profession, or write short tunes as a hobby. In Old French, composer means "put together, arrange, or write," from com-, "with," and poser, "to place."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

composer composers

The German composer adapts several Scottish folk songs in a work for orchestra and violin that beautifully evokes a place and its people.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

The ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ team is mourning the loss of former music composer Lucian Piane, who died Monday after he was struck by a car in Glendale.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

Cast as the eccentric scientist Doc Brown, Mr. Lloyd took his inspiration from the “wild energy” and long white hair of the British conductor and composer Leopold Stokowski.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

During that production, he also understudied the musical director of the show, Carl Davis - who similarly became a prominent composer for film and television.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

This wasn’t just about record-buying preferences, either: being a composer in the twentieth century meant making career- defining choices that simply were not relevant to earlier generations.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Rockstar posted a new trailer online for "GTA VI" featuring a song from "original score composers Justice", who are best known for their work during the late "French Touch" electro wave of the early 2000s.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

It also featured a new song from French electronic music artists Justice, who were revealed to be the game's original score composers.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

Through constant touring and “tireless promotion of composers we assume were always famous,” Ms. Fritz writes, Clara shaped the musical canon according to her own exquisite ear and sophisticated taste.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

The new incentive is aimed at bringing back jobs for the industry’s editors, sound mixers, composers and visual effects artists.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

Russian composers like Tchaikovsky mostly treated the brouhaha surrounding Wagner’s music dramas with disdain.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

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Related Words

• writer

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