bassoon

noun

bas·​soon bə-ˈsün 

ba-

: a double-reed woodwind instrument having a long U-shaped conical tube connected to the mouthpiece by a thin metal tube and a usual range two octaves lower than that of the oboe

bassoonist

bə-ˈsü-nist 

ba-

noun

Illustration of bassoon

Examples of bassoon in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

At a panel discussion at Carnegie Hall in 1999, Dohnányi got into a minor fracas with his esteemed colleague Pierre Boulez over the distinctive tone of French bassoons. —Alex Ross, New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2025

Groans resembling bassoons and didgeridoos leakedfrom the hog house as groggy pigs stirred. —Bennet Goldstein, jsonline.com, 4 July 2025

The Tangent members are Steven Palacio, bassoon; James Blanchard, flute; Tamara Winston, oboe; Alec Manasse, clarinet; and Cort Roberts, horn. —Randy McMullen, Mercury News, 24 Apr. 2025

In the prelude to the fourth act, set in the Sultan’s prison, cellos and bassoons play an upward line that resembles the lyrical second theme of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. —Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

French basson, from Italian bassone, from basso basso

First Known Use

1715, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing bassoon

• double bassoon

Rhymes for bassoon

• attune
• baboon
• balloon
• buffoon
• cartoon
• cocoon
• festoon
• gaboon
• harpoon
• immune
• impugn
• jejune

Kids Definition

bassoon

noun

bas·​soon bə-ˈsün 

ba-

: the woodwind instrument of the oboe family that plays the lowest part

bassoonist

-ˈsü-nəst 

noun