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• roots
  roots

  adjective

  (of popular music) going back to the origins of a style, esp in being genuine and unpretentious
• Roots
  Roots

  (1976) A Pulitzer Prize –winning novel by the African-American author Alex Haley, later made into a popular television drama. It traces a black American man's heritage to Africa, where his ancestors had been captured and sold as slaves.

roots

British  

/ ruːts /

adjective

1. (of popular music) going back to the origins of a style, esp in being genuine and unpretentious

   roots rock

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Roots Cultural  

1. (1976) A Pulitzer Prize –winning novel by the African-American author Alex Haley, later made into a popular television drama. It traces a black American man's heritage to Africa, where his ancestors had been captured and sold as slaves.

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Other Word Forms

• rootsy
  adjective

Example Sentences

Macron's Renaissance party has often been criticised for its weak local roots, and Attal chose to launch his presidential bid in rural France to send a message of solidarity with ordinary people.

From Barron's • May 22, 2026

“We have such deep roots in our local communities and we know all those communities know best the stories they can tell. I think that’s something that only public media can do.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2026

A blood-red tree descends, its skeletal branches and ropy roots suggesting veins and arteries.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026

The duchy has its roots in medieval, feudal land ownership, but it has been having something of an image make-over, with an emphasis on social value, such as providing affordable housing and protecting the environment.

From BBC • May 18, 2026

She reached the roots of the fallen tree, lowered herself down, and collapsed to the earth.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman