ditty
Americannoun
-
a poem intended to be sung.
-
a short, simple song.
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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; see dictate
Explanation
A ditty is a little song or a simple tune. When you're babysitting, you might sing a soft ditty to help a child fall asleep. A ditty might be a simple nursery rhyme in song form, or even the theme song to your favorite TV show. Ditties are easy to learn, and fairly short and effortless to sing. The word comes from a French word, ditie, "composition, poem, or treatise," from the Latin root dictatum, "thing dictated."
Vocabulary lists containing ditty
"The Bells" by Edgar Allan Poe
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Much Ado About Nothing
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Treasure Island
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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.
See Examples For:
A ditty anchoring one of Explosive Media’s most popular videos, “L.O.S.E.R.,” tops a Spotify playlist that it created.
From Salon ● Apr. 26, 2026
It has even inspired an options market ditty: When the VIX is high, it’s time to buy; when it’s low, it’s time to go.
From Barron's ● Mar. 11, 2026
Consider the little ditty my son was taught to memorize in the first grade:
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 9, 2025
Proof of musical life: There’s no banjo in sight, but Martin shows off his song-and-dance chops in Season 3’s “Death Rattle” musical by performing the tongue-twisting ditty “Which of the Pickwick Triplets Did It.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2024
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 "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
None have measured up to their source material, although Lin-Manuel Miranda’s music in the 2024 prequel “Mufasa: The Lion King” contributed the best ditties to the studio’s songbook in decades.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
The second season of Nida Manzoor’s comedic masterpiece about an all-female Muslim punk band is a ride of emotional highlights and jaunty fast-n-loud ditties.
From Salon ● Dec. 27, 2024
The music comprises a broad repertoire of finger-clicking ditties and soaring power ballads.
From New York Times ● Apr. 4, 2023
Boreson’s homespun ditties include the apropos: “Zero dacus, mucho cracus / hallaballu-za bub. / That’s the secret password that we use down at the club.”
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 30, 2023
So to cheer myself I would often make up ditties.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
The Cardinals' Dizzy Dean promptly dittied: "Paul and Me and Parmelee," bragged that the three of them would win 60 games.
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
