crooner
Americannoun
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a popular singer who sings in an evenly modulated, slightly exaggerated manner.
He was the kind of soulful, rockabilly-influenced crooner you might catch playing a place like the Liquor Lounge, and he reminded me of both Sinatra and Elvis.
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someone who sings.
In karaoke, even the least talented crooner has a chance to aim for that big moment in the spotlight.
Etymology
Origin of crooner
Explanation
A crooner is a singer, especially a man who sings jazz standards. Frank Sinatra was a well-known crooner. The noun crooner describes a silky-voiced singer of sentimental jazz favorites, particularly a male singer. Crooners were especially popular from the late 1920s until the early 1950s. The increased use of microphones and radio broadcasting made it possible for crooners to sing softly and emotionally even when backed by a band. The rise of rock n roll helped bring the era of the crooner to an end. Crooner comes from the verb croon, "to sing softly and sadly."
Vocabulary lists containing crooner
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Seabiscuit
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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.
"I began playing music at 15," recalled Vivian Hansen, a former crooner at Park Street's Trincas restaurant.
From BBC • Apr. 17, 2026
Billy Idol, chanteuse Sade, metal legends Iron Maiden and Manchester outfits Joy Division and New Order were also honored, along with hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan and velvet-voiced crooner Luther Vandross.
From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026
If you think of late-career Elvis Presley as only a plump and gaudy Las Vegas crooner slinging schlock in the 1970s, you’re about to get all shook up.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 24, 2026
Carey, meanwhile, has generated 692 million streams — not too shabby, of course, but still not measuring up to the Canadian crooner.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 24, 2025
While he attended the races at Tanforan with Bing Crosby, the crooner found himself abandoned as fans and autograph-seekers smothered Howard.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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.
