minstrelsy

[ min-struhl-see ]

/ ˈmɪn strəl si /

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noun

the art or practice of a minstrel.

minstrels' songs, ballads, etc.: a collection of Scottish minstrelsy.

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Origin of minstrelsy

1275–1325; Middle English minstralcie (<Anglo-French menestralsie) <Anglo-Latin ministralcia, menestralcia.See minstrel, -cy

Words nearby minstrelsy

minoxidil, Minsk, minster, minstrel, minstrel show, minstrelsy, mint, mintage, mint bush, mint condition, in, minted

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use minstrelsy in a sentence

Was the blackface scene with Gene Wilder in Silver Streak an important step in how American audiences view minstrelsy?
How Richard Pryor Beat Bill Cosby and Transformed America|David Yaffe, Scott Saul|December 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Madea films thrive on an ugly mix of minstrelsy and moralism.
Tyler Perry’s Madea Minstrel Show|Rawiya Kameir|December 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The drop below his signal eloquence was a submission to the kind of minstrelsy demanded of anyone, high or low, these days.
Obama Loses His Cool|Stanley Crouch|June 9, 2010|DAILY BEAST
I soon thought of this new and amoral cynicism as the most pernicious form of minstrelsy ever created and popularized.
The Hip Hop Inauguration|Stanley Crouch|December 19, 2008|DAILY BEAST

Scotts ballad in the Minstrelsy spoils its own effect by converting the spirit into the devil.
Ballads of Mystery and Miracle and Fyttes of Mirth|Frank Sidgwick
All the wild life of the wood haunted the chapel, and the place was musical with forest minstrelsy.
The Pagan's Cup|Fergus Hume
And then begin the minstrels to make their minstrelsy on divers instruments, with all the melody that they can devise.
Early Travels in Palestine|Arculf et al.
At last he arose abruptly and shut down the sash, muffling the minstrelsy at the height of its wildest abandon.
The Incendiary|W. A. (William Augustine) Leahy
But if the amorous selections of that crude minstrelsy made any impression upon her, she gave no indication.
A Pagan of the Hills|Charles Neville Buck

British Dictionary definitions for minstrelsy

minstrelsy

/ (ˈmɪnstrəlsɪ) /

noun plural -sies

the art of a minstrel

the poems, music, or songs of a minstrel

a troupe of minstrels

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012