bebop
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of bebop
An Americanism dating back to 1940–45; probably from the nonsense syllables typical of scat singing
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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.
From the outset, the festival embraced musical diversity: big band, swing, ska, blues, Dixieland and bebop.
From BBC • May 1, 2026
Americans were settling down, ballrooms were fading, and audiences were turning to bebop, rhythm and blues, and singers such as Frank Sinatra.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026
The bebop groove abandons James, too, slowing into jagged drum solos.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 16, 2025
Vaughan began her career as a teenager singing bebop — a then-new style that was almost exclusively the domain of hotshot instrumentalists.
From New York Times • Oct. 4, 2023
If he had been a piano player instead of a guitarist, one might say bebop grew from the solos of his right hand while rock and roll grew from the accompaniment of his left.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
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.
