Melody
1 Americannoun
noun
plural
melodies-
musical sounds in agreeable succession or arrangement.
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Music.
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the succession of single tones in musical compositions, as distinguished from harmony and rhythm.
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the principal part in a harmonic composition; the air.
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a rhythmical succession of single tones producing a distinct musical phrase or idea.
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a poem suitable for singing.
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intonation, as of a segment of connected speech.
noun
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music
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a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence; tune
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the horizontally represented aspect of the structure of a piece of music Compare harmony
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sounds that are pleasant because of tone or arrangement, esp words of poetry
Related Words
See harmony.
Other Word Forms
- melodyless adjective
- undermelody noun
Etymology
Origin of melody
1250–1300; Middle English melodie from Medieval Latin melōdia from Greek melōidía “(choral) singing,” equivalent to mel- ( melic ) + -ōid- ( ode ) + -ia -y 3
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.
On the other, he's a flawless pop star who gives those songs catchy melodies and polished production, and performs them with swagger in sparkly suits.
From BBC
Spoken-word post-punk works best when the band surrounding the vocalist has an acute feel for melody—without a singer dispensing catchy musical phrases, the instrumentalists have to pick up the slack.
In a sense, Kirk has adopted a strategy used by pianists like Nat King Cole; when Cole plays the melody, or the “head” as musicians call it, he often phrases orchestrally, in rich block chords.
It also played renditions of other popular Hindi melodies.
From BBC
A year on, they were the eighth biggest-selling act in the world, with critics calling their blend of 1990s R&B and sugar-coated pop melodies a "game-changer".
From BBC
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.
