yé-yé

[ye-ye]

adjective

Informal.

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the rock-'n'-roll music, fashions, entertainment, etc., of the 1960s, especially in France.

2. of or relating to the people associated with these trends.

3. having exuberance, optimism, and enthusiasm for current fads, as a teenager or young adult.

Word History and Origins

Origin of yé-yé¹

1960–65; < French < English yeah-yeah

Example Sentences

I also love the yé-yé girls of the 1960s.

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In 2017, Paley collaborated with Victoria Meyer, an environmental scientist at Southern California’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, on a set of songs inspired by the ’60s French pop style known as yé-yé.

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Françoise Hardy, the French chanson singer, songwriter, fashion “It Girl” and darling of the 1960s “yé-yé” French pop movement, has died.

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As the decades progressed, her muse pushed her away from the commercially driven yé-yé sound toward pop-focused psychedelia, folk-rock and meditative adult pop.

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Alongside peers including Jane Birkin, Brigitte Bardot, France Gall and Sylvie Vartan, Hardy ascended to become a yé-yé hitmaker in her native Paris, drawing the attention of jet-setting pop stars, tastemakers and fashionistas from London, New York and Tokyo.

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