slack-key

[ slak-kee ]
nounAlso slack key .

  1. a style of Hawaiian popular music played on an acoustic guitar with strings tuned to notes lower than standard guitar tuning for more bass resonance.

adjective

  1. noting or pertaining to this style of music.

Origin of slack-key

1
First recorded in 1975–80; slack1 (in the sense “loose, not taut”) + key1; translation of Hawaiian kī hō‘alu, equivalent to kī “key” + hō‘alu “slack”

Words Nearby slack-key

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

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