guitar

noun

gui·​tar gə-ˈtär 

gi-

especially Southern and Midland US also ˈgi-ˌtär

: a flat-bodied stringed instrument with a long fretted neck and usually six strings played with a pick or with the fingers

guitarist

gə-ˈtär-ist 

gi-

noun

Illustration of guitar

• 1 electric
• 2 acoustic

Examples of guitar in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The room is overtaken with projections, scenes of bustling New York traffic paired with bachelor-pad-like guitar riffs. — Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2026

Both Johnny and Dee Dee are buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where a statue of Johnny Ramone playing guitar was dedicated in 2005, leading to annual tributes to him in the years that followed. — Peter Larsen, Daily News, 7 July 2026

Like an origami box, each fold reveals another treasure, from Mick Ronson’s moonshot guitar to the feel-good chorus. — Debby Wolfinsohn, Entertainment Weekly, 7 July 2026

Throughout the album, mary in the junkyard shift constantly, moving from crumbling atmospheric experiments to cloudy Pacific Northwest indie rock to the kind of straightforward classical guitar poems of Leonard Cohen’s early albums. — Sadie Sartini Garner, Pitchfork, 7 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

French guitare, from Spanish guitarra, from Arabic qītār, from Greek kithara cithara

First Known Use

1668, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing guitar

• air guitar
• bass guitar
• bottleneck guitar
• Hawaiian guitar
• lap steel guitar
• pedal steel guitar
• resonator guitar
• resophonic guitar
• steel guitar

Rhymes for guitar

• adar
• afar
• ajar
• alar
• alvar
• bazaar
• bizarre
• boxcar
• boyar
• bulbar
• cachar
• cigar

Kids Definition

guitar

noun

gui·​tar gə-ˈtär 

: a stringed instrument with a flat body, a long neck with frets, and usually six strings that are played with the fingers or with a pick

guitarist

-əst 

noun

Etymology

from French guitare "guitar," derived from Arabic qītār (same meaning)