Dobro

American

[doh-broh] / ˈdoʊ broʊ /

Trademark.

a brand of acoustic guitar commonly used in country music, usually played on the lap and having a raised bridge and a metal resonator cone that produces a tremulous, moaning sound.

noun

plural

Dobros

(lowercase) any guitar of this type.

Dobro British

/ ˈdəʊbrəʊ /

noun

an acoustic guitar having a metal resonator built into the body

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

Weaving around the many period-rich diegetic songs, he took a 1932 Dobro resonator guitar — the same one that Caton’s character, Sammy, plays in the film — and channeled his father’s blues-loving DNA.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2025

It’s a Dobro, which means it’s a guitar with this metal hybrid resonator, so it sounds slightly different.

From Slate • Feb. 5, 2018

Bluma’s guitar and a supporting cast that includes Lloyd Maines on Dobro and pedal steel deftly straddle musical genres.

From Washington Times • Jul. 6, 2017

The other originals usually started sparely, accompanied only by piano, Kane Ritchotte’s drums, Max Whipple’s bass and Cary Singer’s guitar, which imitated a mournful Dobro on a semi-countrified “Bad Words.”

From Washington Post • Oct. 18, 2015

Then Stewart put down the Dobro and said he had to go to class, but as soon as he got back he’d take them to Bridgeport.

From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023