popular music

British

noun

music having wide appeal, esp characterized by lightly romantic or sentimental melodies See also pop 2

"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

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.

Music is evanescent, and popular music even more so, but “The Music Is Black” is both an experience and a chronology.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 2, 2026

The creators of some of the most transcendent and popular music ever made have largely fallen off the charts — or simply fallen.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026

Along with boasting one of the most easily recallable and down-to-Earth refrains in popular music, “Kiss” has a noteworthy history.

From Salon • Feb. 14, 2026

A guitarist, composer and bandleader who died on Saturday, Taylor's six-decade career played a key role in shaping modern popular music in West Africa.

From Barron's • Feb. 9, 2026

The term pop music can refer to a specific kind of popular music, as in "bubblegum pop."

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