torchy

American  

[tawr-chee] / ˈtɔr tʃi /

adjective

torchier, torchiest

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of a torch song or a torch singer.

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Etymology

Origin of torchy

1620–30, in sense “full of torches”; 1940–45 for this sense; torch ¹ + -y ¹

Example Sentences

Throughout the 1950s, the ensemble made a series of revelatory LPs for Capitol Records performing the late Beethoven string quartets and much else, while also joining Frank Sinatra in his torchy classic, “Close to You.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 12, 2025

Originally voiced by Jerry Nelson, she sometimes wears a horn-rimmed lorgnette, fans herself with plastic and sings torchy, bluesy songs.

From Salon • Jan. 23, 2022

“She has the uncanny ability to unearth new meaning in evergreens and to personalize torchy ballads with a sense of hope. There are few people in cabaret capable of expressing such depth of feeling.”

From Washington Post • May 22, 2019

Her influence on other artists is hard to track because no one could mimic her sensibility and personality—her mixture of Eastern European folk-tale mysticism and urban-periphery proletariat saltiness, of torchy romanticism and misanthropic intellect.

From Slate • Jun. 1, 2018

This told, strange Teras touch'd her lute, and sung This ditty, that the torchy evening sprung.

From The Works of Christopher Marlowe, Vol. 3 (of 3) by Bullen, A. H. (Arthur Henry)