ragtime

¹

[rag-tahym]

noun

Music.

1. rhythm in which the accompaniment is strict two-four time and the melody, with improvised embellishments, is in steady syncopation.

2. a style of American music having this rhythm, popular from about 1890 to 1915.

Ragtime

²

[rag-tahym]

noun

1. a novel (1975) by E. L. Doctorow.

ragtime

/ ˈræɡˌtaɪm /

noun

1. a style of jazz piano music, developed by Scott Joplin around 1900, having a two-four rhythm base and a syncopated melody

ragtime

1. A style of early jazz music written largely for the piano in the early twentieth century, characterized by jaunty rhythms and a whimsical mood.

Scott Joplin was a famous composer and performer of ragtime.

Other Word Forms

• ragtimey adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of ragtime¹

1895–1900; probably rag(ged) + time

Word History and Origins

Origin of ragtime¹

C20: probably from _ragged + _time

Example Sentences

The film, with its distinctive ragtime soundtrack, eventually won seven Academy Awards including best picture - although Redford was beaten to the best actor award by Jack Lemmon.

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Newly christened, she became known for scat singing, a vocal style that originated with ragtime - which enabled her to improvise melodies using her voice as an instrument.

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The “tunes” Andres makes use of in his concerto come from American folk songs, parlor songs, blues and ragtime, and they go through colorful repetitive transformations, embellished by Diehl’s improvisations.

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That joy comes via the story of jazz and the works of Jelly Roll Morton, a ragtime pianist who said he invented the genre in 1902.

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Although he was Canadian, his music was steeped in Americana: in blues, country, ragtime, Cajun music, parlor songs, Appalachian ballads, gospel, circus bands, vaudeville and his Indigenous heritage.

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Related Words

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• singing www.thesaurus.com
• soul 
• tune