singsong

[sing-sawng, -song]

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noun

verse, or a piece of verse, that is monotonously jingly in rhythm and pattern of pitch.

monotonous rhythmical cadence, tone, or sound.

British. an unrehearsed singing of well-known songs by an audience or other informal, untrained group; a community sing.

adjective

monotonous in rhythm and in pitch.

Origin of singsong

First recorded in 1600–10; sing + song

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for sing-song

tedious, repetitious, boring, repetitive, dreary, humdrum, tiresome, dull, ho-hum, plodding, blah, colorless, flat, nothing, pedestrian, prosaic, recurrent, soporific, unchanged, unchanging

Examples from the Web for sing-song

Contemporary Examples of sing-song

She sits up tall and strikes up her one-man band of sing-song sound.
When An Adopted Child Won’t Attach
Tina Traster
May 2, 2014
The Qari spent weeks sitting on his cot reciting in a sing-song chant the entire Quran.
U.S. Must Show It Respects Quran and Its Importance to Afghans
Jere Van Dyk
February 28, 2012
“He has that sing-song quality to his voice, a melody to it,” Odenkirk says.
Breaking Bad's Scene-Stealing Dirtbag
Josh Gajewski
May 26, 2010
Eyes on the magazine, Sebatacheck goes back to his sing-song voice.
127,032 Years In Purgatory
Ethan Coen
April 10, 2009

Historical Examples of sing-song

"The same to you, sir," said the other, in a sing-song tone.
One Of Them
Charles James Lever
The languid monotony of his sing-song changed to a swift, sharp clamor.
End of the Tether
Joseph Conrad
Ah, Mr Bracy, sir, just having a bit of a sing-song together.
Fix Bay'nets
George Manville Fenn
I remember how he stood in the firelight and chanted the words in a sing-song tone.
Eben Holden
Irving Bacheller
I bent over the potatoes, and recited the blessing in a sing-song voice.
Jewish Children
Sholem Naumovich Rabinovich

British Dictionary definitions for sing-song

singsong

noun

an accent, metre, or intonation that is characterized by an alternately rising and falling rhythm, as in a person's voice, piece of verse, etc

British an informal session of singing, esp of popular or traditional songs

adjective

having a regular or monotonous rising and falling rhythma singsong accent

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

Word Origin and History for sing-song

adj.

also singsong, musically repetitive and unvarying, 1734, from earlier use as a noun meaning "a jingling ballad" (c.1600), from sing (v.) + song (n.).