guitar

American  

[gi-tahr] / gɪˈtɑr /

noun

1. a stringed musical instrument with a long, fretted neck, a flat, somewhat violinlike body, and typically six strings, which are plucked with the fingers or with a plectrum.

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guitar British  

/ ɡɪˈtɑː /

noun

1. music a plucked stringed instrument originating in Spain, usually having six strings, a flat sounding board with a circular sound hole in the centre, a flat back, and a fretted fingerboard. Range: more than three octaves upwards from E on the first leger line below the bass staff See also electric guitar bass guitar Hawaiian guitar

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guitar Cultural  

1. A stringed musical instrument (see strings) usually played by strumming or plucking. Guitars are widely used in folk music and, often amplified electronically, in country and western music and rock 'n' roll.

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Other Word Forms

• guitar-like
  adjective
• guitarist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of guitar

1615–25; < Spanish guitarra < Arabic kītārah ≪ Greek kithára kithara

Explanation

A guitar is a musical instrument with a long neck and strings. When you play the guitar, you press the strings with one hand to make a note, and strum with the other hand (unless, of course, you are playing air guitar). The section of a guitar where your fingers form a note is called the "fingerboard." An acoustic guitar has a hollow body that vibrates with warm sound when you pluck or strum the strings, and an electric guitar is solid and plugs into an amplifier that projects the sound. The word guitar comes from the Spanish guitarra, which has its roots in the Greek kithara, a lyre-like stringed instrument.

Example Sentences

Guitar “My two favorite guitars are a Fender Telecaster and a D-28 Martin.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 26, 2026

“I went to the Guitar Center in Hollywood to buy it and I asked the clerk, ‘Can you show me how to program it?’

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 11, 2025

Self-taught by YouTube and Reddit, he started producing music for other kids as a seventh-grader using his laptop and a Scarlett 2i2 interface, a simple piece of home recording equipment he bought at Guitar Center.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 26, 2025

Guitar Shack's future includes finishing a rehearsal room and opening a studio.

From BBC • Jan. 12, 2025

Feather, a short squat man with sparse but curly hair, looked up at Guitar, then at Milkman, and frowned.

From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison