adjective
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of or relating to melody
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of or relating to a part in a piece of music
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tuneful or melodious
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of melodic
1815–25; < Late Latin melōdicus < Greek melōidikós. See melody, -ic
Explanation
Something that's tuneful or pretty to listen to is melodic. If your French teacher has a friendly smile and a melodic voice, you could probably sit and listen to her talk for hours. Anything sweet sounding — a bird's trill, a poet's voice, or the tune you sing in the shower — is melodic. A more technical meaning of the word is "containing melody," the definition a professional musician might use. Melody is a quality of music defined as "tunefulness" or "a satisfying series of notes." Music teachers play melodic patterns for their students to duplicate, and composers sometimes combine melodic phrases to form a symphony. The Greek root of melodic is melos, or "song."
Vocabulary lists containing melodic
Music - Middle School
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Music - High School
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"Superman and Me" and "A Smart Cookie/It's Our Story, Too"
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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.
He flew to Atlanta to meet the melodic rapper in hopes he’d be down to experiment.
From Los Angeles Times • May 11, 2026
The song has a slow introduction, but Del Rey's classic melodic vocals draw you in.
From BBC • Apr. 16, 2026
Where the first wave of bands that emerged from downtown were more traditionally rock and roll and melodic, No Wave was the louder, darker, discordant underbelly and the logical next step.
From Salon • Apr. 14, 2026
For Bennett, the emergence of modern country music in the early 2000s -- with a highly polished, more pop sound and repeated "melodic shapes" -- is key.
From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026
As dawn slowly turned the dense jungle from pitch-black to gray, birds began their melodic calls.
From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge
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.
