percussive
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of percussive
First recorded in 1785–95; percuss(ion) + -ive
Vocabulary lists containing percussive
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 musicians, discreetly performing at the back of the stage under the guidance of Mesoamerican instruments director Christopher García, charge the air with percussive Indigenous wonder.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
It may also continue to haunt us forever after, as in the bone-clanking, teeth-chattering, spookily percussive 1929 animated Disney cartoon frolic, “The Skeleton Dance.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
Festivalgoers were spilling out of the tent to catch a glimpse of their percussive, high energy performance that straddles the line between jazz, funk, reggae and carnival.
From BBC ● May 24, 2026
The percussive score by Joseph Shirley and Moses Sumney underlines this and gives the whole film an eerie, curious atmosphere, lending to a sense of unreality.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026
But it is important to distinguish between the first pair and the second: one deals with space and place; the other with percussive force.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
