ballad
any light, simple song, especially one of sentimental or romantic character, having two or more stanzas all sung to the same melody.
a simple narrative poem of folk origin, composed in short stanzas and adapted for singing.
any poem written in similar style.
the music for a ballad.
a sentimental or romantic popular song.
Origin of ballad
1Other words from ballad
- bal·lad·ic [buh-lad-ik], /bəˈlæd ɪk/, adjective
- bal·lad·like, adjective
Words that may be confused with ballad
Words Nearby ballad
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use ballad in a sentence
Along with Emily Shackleton, they wrote the heartbreak ballad “Every Little Thing.”
Country star Carly Pearce released a powerful revenge album — and it’s not what you would expect | Emily Yahr | April 16, 2021 | Washington PostR&B newcomer Joël caught my attention with his soul-stirring single “Clean Up,” a powerful ballad that examines both police brutality and the industrial-prison complex.
Soulection’s Joe Kay Presents ‘A Beginner’s Guide To Future Sounds’ | Brande Victorian | February 5, 2021 | Essence.comThen she started driving for the pleasure of it, humming along to power ballads on Christian radio and chatting on the phone with friends.
“We Don’t Even Know Who Is Dead or Alive”: Trapped Inside an Assisted Living Facility During the Pandemic | by Ava Kofman | November 30, 2020 | ProPublicaGender roles here are not exactly as porous as they are in the original ballad.
The history of Mulan, from a 6th-century ballad to the live-action Disney movie | Constance Grady | September 4, 2020 | VoxBecause the ballad is so simple and elegant, we can see exactly what elements are important to the story at this early stage.
The history of Mulan, from a 6th-century ballad to the live-action Disney movie | Constance Grady | September 4, 2020 | Vox
This sultry ballad about break-ups and make-ups in the City of Angels is haunting stuff.
The 14 Best Songs of 2014: Bobby Shmurda, Future Islands, Drake, and More | Marlow Stern | December 31, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd it was a radical part of your tool set, throwing it into a ballad, which was also a canonized jazz standard.
There were no longer any chord changes, and it was no longer a ballad.
Toward the end, on the ballad “Someone Else,” she flies over the crowd while straddling a giant hot dog like Slim Pickens.
Miley Cyrus’s NBC Twerk-A-Thon: Tongues, Leotards, and Dwarfs, Oh My! | Marlow Stern | July 7, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTM10 has a musical ballad named after him that the band Los Sembradores de La Sierra recorded in 2011.
I asked him to tell me how he produced a certain effect he makes in his arrangement of the ballad in Wagner's Flying Dutchman.
Music-Study in Germany | Amy FayOne day her mother heard her singing a popular nautical ballad, on the devotion of a sailor's bride to her betrothed.
Skipper Worse | Alexander Lange KiellandMirèio contains one ballad and two lyrics in a measure differing from that of the rest of the poem.
Frdric Mistral | Charles Alfred DownerThe Scotch ballad is the spontaneous production of the touching and simple genius of the nation.
Friend Mac Donald | Max O'RellThe same ballad contains other imitations of Chaucer's language.
Chaucer's Works, Volume 1 (of 7) -- Romaunt of the Rose; Minor Poems | Geoffrey Chaucer
British Dictionary definitions for ballad
/ (ˈbæləd) /
a narrative song with a recurrent refrain
a narrative poem in short stanzas of popular origin, originally sung to a repeated tune
a slow sentimental song, esp a pop song
Origin of ballad
1Collins 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 ballad (1 of 2)
A simple narrative song, or, alternatively, a narrative poem suitable for singing. (See under “Conventions of Written English.”)
A simple narrative song, or a narrative poem suitable for singing. The ballad usually has a short stanza, such as:
There are twelve months in all the year,
As I hear many men say,
But the merriest month in all the year
Is the merry month of May.
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.
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