electric guitar

American  

noun

1. a guitar equipped with electric or magnetic pickups that permit its sound to be amplified and fed to a loudspeaker.

---

electric guitar British  

noun

1. an electronically amplified guitar, used mainly in pop music Compare acoustic guitar

---

Etymology

Origin of electric guitar

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

Thudding drums, an electric guitar that chugs like a tank’s engine turning over and blaring trumpet fanfare announce the onset of football on CBS, Fox and NBC.

From Salon • Mar. 18, 2026

She sang traditional gospel songs with contemporary jazz tempos that she played on her electric guitar.

From BBC • Mar. 7, 2026

In 1951, Leo Fender, a California designer and manufacturer of musical instruments, built and sold the first mass-produced solid-body electric guitar, the Telecaster.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 14, 2026

In its rules, the academy states that traditional country recordings, among other things, employ “traditional country instrumentation such as acoustic guitar, steel guitar, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, piano, electric guitar and live drums.”

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 2, 2025

I found an electric guitar shaped like Apollo’s lyre that was so sweet I had to pick it up.

From "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan