country music

noun

|Updated on: 8 Aug 2018

Definition of country music

: music derived from or imitating the folk style of the Southern U.S. or of the Western cowboy; especially : popular vocal music characterized by simple harmonies, accompaniment by stringed instruments (such as guitar, fiddle, banjo, and pedal steel), repeated choruses, and often narrative lyrics — called also country, country and western

See country music defined for English-language learners

See country music defined for kids

Recent Examples of country music from the Web

Hosted and headlined by the iconic artist himself, Willie Nelson's 4th of July Picnic is always an eclectic mix of country music, new and old, with a few surprises thrown in.

— craig hlavaty, Houston Chronicle, "Revisit the history of Willie Nelson's 4th of July Picnic festivals through the years," 2 July 2018
Chris Stapleton, one of country music’s biggest stars, makes his Farm Aid debut in Hartford.

— michael hamad, courant.com, "Farm Aid 2018 Bringing Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp To Hartford," 25 June 2018
On her debut album, Expectations, Rexha uses her songwriting to explore a lot of country music’s traditions but doesn’t step foot back in that down home territory musically.

— refinery29.com, "Bebe Rexha Isn't Afraid To Be An Anti-Hero With Expectations," 22 June 2018
Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle and Dwight Yoakam — three 60-something luminaries who have expanded the boundaries of country music — are touring together for the first time.

— bill brownlee, kansascity, "KC concerts June 21-27: Macklemore & Kesha; Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle & Dwight Yoakam," 19 June 2018
The skinny: Barbecue and country music go hand in hand in the summer.

— hannah steinkopf-frank, RedEye Chicago, "Chicago festivals this week: Southport Arts Festival, Chinatown Summer Fair, Rhythm World," 11 July 2018
The nine songs on the album show various influences — from Willie Nelson to Seattle grunge — but Savannah said she's most attracted to country music.

— tim funk, charlotteobserver, "Legally blind, she never could see her dad play for the Panthers. Now he cheers for her.," 15 June 2018
Performing at the free country music festival will be Kellie Pickler at 4 p.m., Eli Young Band at 6:30 p.m. and Chase Rice at 9 p.m. The festival ends with a laser show spectacular choreographed to music.

— jennie key, Cincinnati.com, "Winning: What you need to know to kick it at SummitFest," 7 June 2018
Wiegand distinguished himself as someone with empirical knowledge about every art form, high and low, from opera to ballet to country music to the latest trends in pop culture.

— sam whiting, San Francisco Chronicle, "David Wiegand, Chronicle arts editor and TV critic, dead at 70," 1 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'country music.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of country music

1942

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

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COUNTRY MUSIC Defined for English Language Learners

country music

noun

Definition of country music for English Language Learners

: a style of music that developed in the southern and western U.S. and that often contains lyrics relating to the lives of people who live in the country

COUNTRY MUSIC Defined for Kids

country music

noun

Definition of country music for Students

: a style of music that developed in the southern and western United States, that is similar to folk music, and that often has lyrics about people who live in the country