pianist
Americannoun
-
pianists
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pianist
1830–40; < French pianiste < Italian pianista. See piano 1, -ist
Explanation
If you play the piano, you are a pianist. The word most often describes a professional piano player, like a pianist in the symphony. A pianist might work playing jazz standards in a restaurant or performing solo shows on stages all over the world. A local pianist might make some extra money by giving piano lessons to kids, tuning pianos, or serving as a substitute music teacher. The French source of the word pianist is pianiste, which comes from the Italian piano e forte, "soft and loud."
Vocabulary lists containing pianist
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.
See Examples For:
In 2025, Reynolds made a guest appearance on the first season of Netflix’s “Ransom Canyon,” which starred Kelly as Quinn O’Grady, a former concert pianist, opposite Josh Duhamel, who played rancher Staten Kirkland.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
Alternating chapters launch into Livia’s memories of the past, when she was, we learn, a brilliant pianist who received a full scholarship to the Indiana University School of Music.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
His interests extended beyond jazz, and he did noteworthy collaborations with choreographer Bill T. Jones and classical pianist Ursula Oppens; in addition, he played with Bjork in the early 1990s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
"And here's a wonderful pianist, Pavel Kushnir," says Dmitry Miratov.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Ragtime’s syncopation was drawn from a relatively limited menu of possible variations, and could therefore also be written down and mastered, in time, by any competent pianist.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
Much as many trumpeters and saxophonists were in the jazz spotlight in the postwar years, pianists are now often front and center.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
“He’s playing better than most of the professional pianists I’ve worked with,” says Hurwitz, who regularly conducts “La La Land in Concert.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
It’s a world of classical pianists and opera singers rather than thumping bass, Gothic palaces over private islands in the Bahamas and fine Barolo instead of sugary margaritas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
As part of their studies, they researched other single-handed pianists - such as Nicholas McCarthy and Leon Fleisher - who had made successful careers.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
On top of this accompanying oompah the rag pianists wove a catchy tune that pulled the rhythm around, a technique called syncopation.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
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.
