encore
Americaninterjection
noun
-
encores
plural
-
a demand, as by applause, for a repetition of a song, act, etc., or for a performance of a number or piece additional to those on a program, or for a reappearance by the performers, as at the end of a concert, recital, etc.
-
the performance or reappearance in response to such a demand.
He chose a Chopin nocturne for his encore.
-
any repeated or additional performance or appearance, as a rerun of a telecast or a rematch in sports.
verb (used with object)
-
encores,
present (3rd person singular)
-
encored,
past participle, past
-
encoring
present participle
-
to call for a repetition of.
-
to call for an encore from (a performer).
interjection
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
encoresimple
-
encoressimple
-
have encoredperfect
-
has encoredperfect
-
am encoringprogressive
-
are encoringprogressive
-
is encoringprogressive
-
have been encoringperfect progressive
-
has been encoringperfect progressive
Past
-
encoredsimple
-
had encoredperfect
-
was encoringprogressive
-
were encoringprogressive
-
had been encoringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of encore
1705–15; < French: still, yet, besides < Latin hinc hā hōrā or hinc ad hōram until this hour
Explanation
A performance that's repeated or added to the regular performance is called an encore. If you can't hear anything because of last night's concert, it might be because the band played for two hours and then did a thirty minute encore. Encore is a French word meaning "again." Audiences often yell "Encore!" if a play, song, or other act has been particularly good. In essence they are shouting "Again!" After a musical number, the encore may take the form of a repeated verse or chorus. At the end of a concert, the encore may be a whole extra set. The word is sometimes used sarcastically: "Well, you flunked math. What are you going to do for an encore?"
Vocabulary lists containing encore
Do-Over: Words For Groundhog Day
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Theater - Introductory
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English Words Derived from French, List 4
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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:
The set officially ended with “The Adults Are Talking,” shortly before an expected encore.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
"Back in the old days, they didn't used to helicopter off the minute they'd done the encore, they would come up and chill at the house until the roads cleared."
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
In an age when far too many politicians serve past their sell-by date, a leader who knows when to take a bow and go out with an encore is rare.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
This jazz thing is six songs, including encore.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2026
The little Chinese girl sat down also to play an encore of “Anitra’s Dance” by CJrieg.
From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
After all those years of effort - and infinite encores of Whatta Man - Anastacia finally got to make her debut album at the turn of the millennium.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2025
Bowing modestly after making his Carnegie debut with a confident, supple, eventually dazzling performance of Chopin’s 27 études, the teenage pianist Yunchan Lim had given three eloquent encores of other Chopin works.
From New York Times ● Feb. 22, 2024
"Friends & Family Christmas" encores Sunday, Dec. 24 at 9 a.m.
From Salon ● Dec. 23, 2023
Their enthusiasm delighted conductor Marin Alsop, who ordered several impromptu encores.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2023
A showy solo in an Italian opera might elicit spontaneous applause and even encores.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
The band encored with their classic tune "Casino Queen," the name of a riverboat casino in East St. Louis, Illinois.
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2021
Faiyaz encored with the song but directed the audience to sing along with the record, rather than singing it himself.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 11, 2018
A classic commercial parody was encored live: Super Bass-o-Matic, with pitchman Dan Aykroyd and Laraine Newmain repeating their performances from 1976.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 16, 2015
Patience among Hawks fans wore thin when Kane encored a second straight first-round postseason exit with more fraternity-house antics.
From Chicago Tribune ● Jun. 28, 2013
Of course you will say, "Molly Astore," the song he was encored for.
From Nuts and Nutcrackers by Charles James Lever
Love wrapped up the regular set with another brief shot of the Stones' "Sympathy" before encoring with Hole's "Doll Parts."
From Reuters ● Apr. 26, 2010
When he finished, and the audience was tumultuously encoring him, a hand was laid on the arm of the tallest of the three men, who stood apart from the crowd.
From Belford's Magazine, Vol 2, December 1888 by Various
The wine-shop family encircled her, encoring her vociferously.
From The Sentimental Adventures of Jimmy Bulstrode by Marie Van Vorst
We applaud lustily; we begin the encoring business here, which, having once started, we do not intend to give up again.
From Lazy Thoughts of a Lazy Girl Sister of that "Idle Fellow." by Jenny Wren
The music ran its course and stopped, as all music must, and the couples stood encoring.
From The Tempering by Charles Neville Buck
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.
