symphonic
Americanadjective
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Music. of, for, pertaining to, or having the character of a symphony or symphony orchestra.
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of or relating to symphony or harmony of sounds.
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characterized by similarity of sound, as words.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of symphonic
First recorded in 1855–60; symphon(y) + -ic
Vocabulary lists containing symphonic
Music - Middle School
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Music - High School
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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.
The German and Austrian symphonic and operatic music of the 1930s happens to be the root of the Hollywood soundtrack, created by composers such as Erich Korngold, who fled the Nazis.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
This year’s program contained two numbers from movie soundtracks that Eisenhower, back from the war, enjoyed in the 1950s: Dimitri Tiomkin’s symphonic suite from “High Noon” and Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein’s score from “Oklahoma!”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
Western symphonic influences were rarely woven into the mainstream soundtrack.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026
The soul-dance classic ushered in an era of a more dynamic, symphonic disco sound and earned the New England band national renown.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026
In its purest form, the symphonic poem style is what orchestral film music grew out of in the 1920s and ’30s, its job to support and describe something outside music.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
