noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of bassist
Explanation
If you're a musician who plays a low-pitched instrument, especially a double 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 usually plays a bass guitar, and along with the drummer, provides the rhythm that forms a song's foundation. The bassist also plays notes that harmonize with the rest of the band's instruments, such as other guitars and keyboards. Classical and jazz bassists do something similar, but they usually play the double bass, the largest instrument of the violin family: It's so big that it is stood upright on the floor while the bassist stands or sits on a high stool to play it.
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:
ZZ Top's original bassist Dusty Hill died in 2021.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
When Hill died in 2021, the group carried on performing with Elwood Francis as its bassist.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
“Right away we were treated really first-class, man. First-class,” bassist Bakithi Kumalo recalls.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Joining him in this rehearsal are bassist Wiley Hodgden and guitarist Brent Woods, who played hard-rocking cover songs in Taylor’s side project Chevy Metal for more than two decades.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Flea, the bassist, was phenomenal, and the front man, Anthony Kiedis, was a cyclone, lunging and pacing and whirling in every direction, belting out the lyrics.
From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx
But rock-band bassists were in short supply, so I fooled around on the bass.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
That turned the talk to their favorite bassists.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2023
Low, which was essentially the couple with a series of bassists over the years, released its first album, “I Could Live in Hope,” in 1994.
From New York Times ● Nov. 11, 2022
“You can’t go wrong with two of the greatest bassists on the whole planet,” Evans says.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 26, 2022
I go up to the fourth floor to meet the other bassists.
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.
