ditty
Americannoun
-
ditties
plural
-
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:
Let's start with Dolly Parton's own personal favourite, her 1971 acoustic country-folk ditty, Coat of Many Colors, external.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
One of Russia’s most popular singers, Filipp Kirkorov, sang a ditty about A7’s defiance of European sanctions in one promotional video.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
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
“How was your first day at country Coachella? They only call it Stagecoach because Count-chella doesn’t sound good,” the singer asked the crowd before the band launched into the “Shrek 2” ditty “Accidentally in Love.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 25, 2026
Eventually Threpe was called up onto the stage where he sang a scathing little ditty of his own design, satirizing one of Tarbean’s councilmen.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
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
West Seattle’s foremost purveyor of alt-country noir is back with another scintillating set of spaghetti western ditties marked by Amaker’s unmistakable baritone, which is equal parts folksy and sinister.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 19, 2024
Rest assured, there will be no such ditties on today’s playlist.
From New York Times ● Jun. 2, 2023
I hummed ditties and murmured to myself and pretended to weep.
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.
