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.
The breakneck pace of the guitar chords is measured and deliberate; the drums are measured, consistent; as usual, the bassline is its own melodic counterpoint.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026
Ryonex has emerged as one of the most notable names in Japan’s new generation of futuristic trap and melodic drill.
From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2026
Parton’s songs, she noted, make up “a narrative of painful, beautiful, poetic melodic commentary on what it’s like to be human, and what it’s like to be a woman in America.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Banks won a Grammy in February 2024 for best melodic rap performance for “All My Life” featuring J. Cole.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 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
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
