genre

[ zhahn-ruh; French zhahn-ruh ]

/ ˈʒɑn rə; French ˈʒɑ̃ rə /

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See synonyms for: genre / genres on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural gen·res

[zhahn-ruhz; French zhahn-ruh]. /ˈʒɑn rəz; French ˈʒɑ̃ rə/.

a class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular form, content, technique, or the like: the genre of epic poetry; the genre of symphonic music.

Fine Arts.

paintings in which scenes of everyday life form the subject matter.
a realistic style of painting using such subject matter.

genus; kind; sort; style.

adjective

Fine Arts. of or relating to genre.

of or relating to a distinctive literary type.

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Origin of genre

1760–70; <French: kind, sort; see gender¹

Words nearby genre

genotoxin, genotype, -genous, Genova, gen pop, genre, genre-busting, genro, Genroku, gens, gens du monde

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use genre in a sentence

In recent years, “lo-fi chill” and other forms of “focus music” have become so popular that there are now multiple YouTube channels devoted to the genre.
People who really miss the office are listening to its sounds at home|Tanya Basu|September 10, 2020|MIT Technology Review
Throughout the process, Thio worked with lo-fi producers to curate bass lines, drum lines, and background ambience that exemplify the genre and sound good.
Create your own moody quarantine music with Google’s AI|Karen Hao|September 4, 2020|MIT Technology Review
Stell is a rapidly rising artist in the electronic and dance scene, though his songs don’t fit neatly in the genre.
Why Big Wild's Songs Feel Like Adventures|Outside Editors|September 3, 2020|Outside Online
Studios with a very focused portfolio around a specific genre — Viker’s core focus is social casino-type games — may benefit from advertisers who shift to more broad-based, contextual targeting, he added.
‘Speeding up market consolidation’: Apple’s privacy changes expected to spark wave of gaming and ad tech M&A|Lara O'Reilly|September 3, 2020|Digiday

The genre-bender is well-cast and suspenseful, and the cliffhanger ending suggests there’s more to come.
Stream or Skip? A Synthetic Biologist’s Review of ‘Biohackers’ on Netflix|Elsa Sotiriadis|September 2, 2020|Singularity Hub
People watch night soaps because the genre allows them to believe in a world where people just react off their baser instincts.
‘Empire’ Review: Hip-Hop Musical Chairs with an Insane Soap Opera Twist|Judnick Mayard|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
A lot of the culture around movies in the sci-fi/fantasy genre is about deconstructing them ad nauseam.
Patton Oswalt on Fighting Conservatives With Satire|William O’Connor|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
I came [to personal essays] through the route of, if you want to call it intellection or a kind of interpretive [genre].
Daphne Merkin on Lena Dunham, Book Criticism, and Self-Examination|Mindy Farabee|December 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
You had a great line in your piece on Geoffrey Beene about the “genre” of evening wear.
Daphne Merkin on Lena Dunham, Book Criticism, and Self-Examination|Mindy Farabee|December 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Phonetic, made-up lyrics are another venerable tradition of folk music, and “pa-rum-pa-pa-pum” is iconic of the genre.
Yes, I Like Christmas Music. Stop Laughing.|Michael Tomasky|December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Mrs. Woodbury paints in oils and water-colors; the latter are genre scenes, and among them are several Dutch subjects.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement
They live in Stockholm, where she paints portraits and genre subjects.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement
Occasionally this artist has painted genre subjects, but her real success has not been in this direction.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement
Unfortunately, the art of genre painting did not exist in those days, and that of engraving was in its infancy.
Catherine de' Medici|Honore de Balzac
Tout le monde sait que l'Allemagne possede en ce genre des trsors qui ont t jusqu'ici comme enfouis pour la France.
Baron d'Holbach|Max Pearson Cushing

British Dictionary definitions for genre

genre

/ (ˈʒɑːnrə) /

noun

kind, category, or sort, esp of literary or artistic work
(as modifier)genre fiction

a category of painting in which domestic scenes or incidents from everyday life are depicted

Word Origin for genre

C19: from French, from Old French gendre; see gender

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

Cultural definitions for genre

genre

[ (zhahn-ruh) ]

The kind or type of a work of art, from the French, meaning “kind” or “genus.” Literary genres include the novel and the sonnet. Musical genres include the concerto and the symphony. Film genres include Westerns and horror movies.

genre

Origin of genre

Words nearby genre

Words related to genre

How to use genre in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for genre

Word Origin for genre

Cultural definitions for genre