jazz

American  

[jaz] / dʒæz /

noun

1. music originating in New Orleans around the beginning of the 20th century and subsequently developing through various increasingly complex styles, generally marked by intricate, propulsive rhythms, polyphonic ensemble playing, improvisatory, virtuosic solos, melodic freedom, and a harmonic idiom ranging from simple diatonicism through chromaticism to atonality.

2. a style of dance music, popular especially in the 1920s, arranged for a large band and marked by some of the features of jazz.

3. dancing or a dance performed to such music, as with violent bodily motions and gestures.

4. Slang. liveliness; spirit; excitement.

5. Slang. insincere, exaggerated, or pretentious talk.

   Don't give me any of that jazz about your great job!

6. Slang. similar or related but unspecified things, activities, etc..

   He goes for fishing and all that jazz.

---

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of jazz.

verb (used with object)

1. to play (music) in the manner of jazz.

2. Informal.

   1. to excite or enliven.

   2. to accelerate.

3. Slang: Vulgar. to copulate with.

verb (used without object)

1. to dance to jazz music.

2. to play or perform jazz music.

3. Informal. to act or proceed with great energy or liveliness.

4. Slang: Vulgar. to copulate.

verb phrase

1. jazz up

   1. to add liveliness, vigor, or excitement to.

   2. to add ornamentation, color, or extra features to, in order to increase appeal or interest; embellish.

   3. to accelerate.

jazz British  

/ dʒæz /

noun

1. 1. a kind of music of African-American origin, characterized by syncopated rhythms, solo and group improvisation, and a variety of harmonic idioms and instrumental techniques. It exists in a number of styles Compare blues See also bebop bop 1 Dixieland free hard bop harmolodics mainstream modern jazz New Orleans jazz swing trad

   2. ( as modifier )

      a jazz band

   3. ( in combination )

      a jazzman

2. informal enthusiasm or liveliness

3. slang rigmarole; paraphernalia

   legal papers and all that jazz

4. slang sexual intercourse

5. slang a dance

---

verb

1. (intr) to play or dance to jazz music

2. slang to have sexual intercourse with (a person)

jazz Cultural  

1. A form of American music that grew out of African-Americans' musical traditions at the beginning of the twentieth century. Jazz is generally considered a major contribution of the United States to the world of music. It quickly became a form of dance music, incorporating a “big beat” and solos by individual musicians. For many years, all jazz was improvised and taught orally, and even today jazz solos are often improvised. Over the years, the small groups of the original jazz players evolved into the “Big Bands” (led, for example, by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Glenn Miller), and finally into concert ensembles. Other famous jazz musicians include Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, and Ella Fitzgerald.

---

Other Word Forms

• jazzer
  noun

---

Etymology

Origin of jazz

1905–10, 1915–20 jazz for def. 5; origin uncertain

---

Explanation

Jazz, a form of instrumental and vocal music characterized by syncopated rhythms and informal improvisation, has been called America's only original art form. If you've ever listened to Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, or Thelonious Monk, jazz is what you're hearing. The term jazz originated not with music, but in baseball, where it was used as a synonym for "pep, vim, vigor." It began to be used to describe music about a decade after jazz first began to be played in 1900 New Orleans. Since then, like the art form it describes, jazz has changed and expanded its meaning. Today, jazz can refer to a genre of dance, to the act of "sprucing something up," to the decade of the 1920s (nicknamed The Jazz Age), or to holding your hands above your head and waving your fingers, making jazz hands.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

jazz

Its influence sweeps through “classical music, ragtime, tango, jazz, rhythm and blues, country, rock and roll, funk and hip hop.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

Wampi specializes in reparto, while Daymé dabbles more in jazz and soul stylings.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026

But it also has a purposeful solidity, announced by a snippet of an interview with jazz legend Chick Corea that leads into the nostalgic “Summer Clothes.”

From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2026

They include last year’s Oscar winner, “Mr. Nobody Against Putin,” about a small-town Russian schoolteacher combating propaganda, and 2024’s “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat,” about the intersection of jazz and politics in mid-20th century Congo.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

My father loves jazz and has an extensive collection of records and reel-to-reel tapes he used to enjoy after returning home from work.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---