deejay

American  

[dee-jey] / ˈdiˌdʒeɪ /

noun

Informal.

1. disc jockey.

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deejay British  

/ ˈdiːˌdʒeɪ /

noun

1. an informal name for disc jockey

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Etymology

Origin of deejay

First recorded in 1940–45; pronunciation of initials D.J.

Explanation

If you love deciding which song to play next at a party, you should be a deejay, a person whose job is to choose the music for a radio station, a party, or a club. Deejay or DJ is shorthand for disc jockey, originally spelled disk jockey in the 1940s. Today's deejays don't play shellac discs like the first ones did, but many of them do use vinyl records. Club deejays incorporate audio equipment to seamlessly merge one track into another, and radio deejays may play songs recorded digitally or on records, CDs, and cassette tapes. It's also a verb, so you can offer to deejay your friend's birthday party.

Example Sentences

The ballpark deejay quickly queued up John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” Kelenic’s new walk-up song and, suddenly, a singalong favorite for everyone at T-Mobile Park these days.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 26, 2023

While the moms roast the nuts with chaat masala and the dads gather ’round the wine, my job is to sync my phone to a bluetooth speaker and play deejay.

From New York Times • Dec. 22, 2022

She didn’t know that it had happened for about 20 years until a deejay “told me that he had letters on White House stationery commending him for having suppressed my music.”

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 21, 2022

Ironically, the series does open with a radio broadcast: a Muscogee deejay introducing The Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog," which soundtracks the gang's theft of a chip-delivery truck.

From Salon • Aug. 3, 2022

Instead he’s busy making a name for himself as a local deejay.

From "Piecing Me Together" by Renée Watson

Related Words

• broadcaster
• disc jockey
• newscaster
• reporter