Motown
Americannoun
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Also called Motown sound. an upbeat, often pop-influenced style of rhythm and blues associated with the city of Detroit and with numerous Black vocalists and vocal groups since the 1950s, characterized by compact, danceable arrangements.
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a nickname for Detroit, Michigan.
noun
Etymology
Origin of Motown
First recorded in 1965–70; from Motown, proprietary name for records released by the Motown Record Corporation of Detroit, Michigan, shortened from Motor Town, in reference to Detroit's major role as a motor vehicle producer
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.
She was supposed to record a cover of Jimmy Ruffin’s Motown march “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” for the movie, but the English singer Paul Young beat her to it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
“My mom was into Motown… my dad into the Mexican standards and jazz.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2026
"There's a thing I miss in in pop music today, which is that kind of Motown feeling, that classic feeling, that analogue feeling," she said.
From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2026
"There's a there's a thing I miss in in pop music today, which is that kind of Motown feeling, that classic feeling, that analogue feeling," she told me last year.
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2026
How else would we see Motown groups, James Brown, or Aretha Franklin?
From "One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia
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.
