noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of bassist
Explanation
If you're a musician who plays a standup bass or a bass guitar, you're a bassist. All bassists play instruments with deep, low tones, and the word derives from a Latin root meaning "low." In a rock band, the bassist and drummer provide the rhythm that forms a song's foundation — and the bassist also plays notes that harmonize with the guitar, keyboards, and any other instruments. Classical and jazz bassists do something similar, but they have to stand up while they're playing.
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:
And that moment only happens once, so it felt appropriate to honor it at 25,” bassist Rick Burch said backstage before the band’s Brooklyn tour stop in June.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
Barely a week passed between the news, via GoFundMe, that L7 bassist Jennifer Finch was fighting an aggressive form of brain cancer and the announcement of her death.
From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026
"I grew up over there and I live over there," says bassist Theo Ellis, gesturing towards the horizon from the stage.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
He convened a slightly different quintet—trumpeter Adam O’Farrill, tenor saxophonist Mark Shim, pianist Lex Korten and bassist Tyrone Allen II—for a Jazz at Lincoln Center performance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
Turns out I will not become a bassist today.
From "Sparrow" by Sarah Moon
But rock-band bassists were in short supply, so I fooled around on the bass.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
That same year, Rolling Stone ranked him 28th on its list of the 50 greatest bassists of all time.
From New York Times ● Feb. 7, 2024
For fellow rock bassists, Rourke’s playing remains aspirational, a core part of one of the era’s most beloved bands.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2023
With two saxophonists, two bassists and three drummers, the group is really a combination of separate bands Cherry had been leading in New York and Sweden.
From New York Times ● Apr. 28, 2021
And bassists are tall and skinny, like me.
From "Sparrow" by Sarah Moon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
