torch song

American  

noun

1. a popular song concerned with unhappiness or failure in love.

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torch song British  

noun

1. a sentimental or romantic popular song, usually sung by a woman

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Other Word Forms

• torch singer
  noun

Etymology

Origin of torch song

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

The LP’s second ballad is a torch song, “We’re All Alone.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 23, 2026

There’s also an early version of “We Three,” the torch song she wrote with Tom Verlaine, which would later make it onto “Easter.”

From Salon • Dec. 9, 2025

The duo stockpiled a few hundred songs and whittled them down to the final 11, from the anguished torch song “Never Not Love You” to the encouraging “Get Up Kid.”

From Seattle Times • Sep. 14, 2023

Less happily, she also did “Angel Down,” a maudlin torch song that represented the evening’s sole selection from her coolly received 2016 LP.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 11, 2022

The title track from Amanda Shires’s upcoming album is a poetic and provocative torch song enlivened by an electrifying vocal performance.

From New York Times • Jun. 24, 2022