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.
“Going to Babble On” has a quicker pulse with guitars that chug, and its vibe has the melodic ease of the early-’80s pop style sometimes called yacht rock.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
If she senses I’m stepping over a line, she’ll say my name in a melodic, ascending tone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
One of the tracks, a brightly melodic calypso theme titled “St. Thomas,” is Rollins’ best known composition, and a standard in the lexicon of jazz tunes.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2026
It starts with Mad Woman, whose opening instrumental presents a more organised, melodic version of Sabotage's cacophonic climax.
From BBC ● May 2, 2026
Figure 2.6: A melodic phrase based on the Siegfried leitmotif , from Wagner's opera The Valkyrie.
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
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.
