country music

American

noun

a style and genre of largely string-accompanied American popular music having roots in the folk music of the Southeast and cowboy music of the West, usually vocalized, generally simple in form and harmony, and typified by romantic or melancholy ballads accompanied by acoustic or electric guitar, banjo, violin, and harmonica.

country music British

noun

Sometimes shortened to: country. a type of 20th-century popular music based on White folk music of the southeastern US

"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

Etymology

Origin of country music

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

country music

Actress Sally Field, who starred in Steel Magnolias opposite Dolly Parton, led a tribute to the country music star, who died last month.

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

Stagecoach, the country music festival on the same site as Coachella, also temporarily shut down this year due to strong winds.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

Peter, a 51-year-old Kenyan country music fan whose son is in the US Navy, spent 25 years in Dallas, Texas, and only found out where he was going "halfway through the flight".

From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Nashville International Airport announced Friday plans to rename BNA in honor of Parton, following a growing public campaign that surged after the country music icon’s death.

From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026

The country music still leaked softly out of the stereo.

From "The Honest Truth" by Dan Gemeinhart

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023