elevator music

noun

: instrumental arrangements of popular songs often piped in (as to an elevator or retail store)

Examples of elevator music in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
With no dialogue, just a few words of on-screen text, the 15-second video set to instrumental elevator music conveyed what thousands of viewers on TikTok have once felt but had not said aloud. Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Nov. 2025 It’s meant to be kind of lift music [elevator music], effectively. Chris Willman, Variety, 17 Nov. 2025 Tufnel and his wife own a cheese shop in an English village; St. Hubbins writes elevator music and is working on a score for a horror film called Night of the Assisted Living Dead; Smalls operates a glue museum. Christopher J. Scalia, The Washington Examiner, 26 Sep. 2025 Customers rarely remember the exact response time, unless they were tortured with on-repeat elevator music. Tayfun Bilsel, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for elevator music

Word History

First Known Use

1963, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of elevator music was in 1963

Cite this Entry

“Elevator music.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/elevator%20music. Accessed 19 Dec. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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