guitar

American  

[gi-tahr] / gɪˈtɑr /

noun

• guitars
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• guitarist
  noun
• guitar-like
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• guitars
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of guitar

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

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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

See Examples For:

guitar guitars

On the guitar thing: Peter Buck is one of one.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

“One Man” is a gorgeous slice of baroque pop, with acoustic guitar and a string quartet, and on the swooning ballad “Where Is Gone?”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Stipe: Something tells me you probably own that guitar.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

It’s so immediately distinctive: 0 to 60 in five seconds, instant energy, a handful of guitar notes before all of the instruments rev up.

From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026

“Hey, my guitar wasn’t hurt by all that bouncing around. I think this calls for a new song.”

From "Wolfie & Fly" by Cary Fagan

Those guitars on the bridge are the most beautiful thing he’s ever done.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

He said the biggest-selling guitars today are almost identical to designs going back to the early 1950s.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

The Smiths musician said he was letting go of his guitars because, "I didn't like the idea of my studio space becoming a museum".

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

“It has none of those elements one sees so often: festivals of wrought iron, little Juliet balconies, guitars strumming in every corner,” he recalled in his 1998 interview.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026

He lifted his tail off the ground and held it at an angle and marched in time to the music the minstrels were playing on their guitars.

From "The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread" by Kate DiCamillo

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