ditty
Americannoun
plural
ditties-
a poem intended to be sung.
-
a short, simple song.
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
Etymology
Origin of ditty
1250–1300; Middle English dite < Anglo-French, Old French dit ( i ) e poem, noun use of past participle of ditier to compose < Latin dictāre; dictate
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.
The record opens with a spirited British vaudeville-esque rendition of an original ditty called “Everywhere it’s Christmas,” which informs the listener that “Everywhere it’s Christmas/at the end of every year.”
From Salon
Consider the little ditty my son was taught to memorize in the first grade:
The tune for this ditty was suspiciously like a tune from Pirates on Holiday, the nautical operetta whose first act Penelope and the children had witnessed while visiting London some months earlier.
From Literature
The song evokes the same reassuring warmth generated by that indelible “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” ditty “It’s You I Like,” especially as reinterpreted by Sherie Rene Scott in her 2010 Broadway show “Everyday Rapture.”
From Los Angeles Times
A lovely chamber-folk ditty about two lovers keeping painful track of each other long after the end of their toxic romance.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
