guitar

noun

gui·​tar gə-ˈtär How to pronounce guitar (audio)
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 noun

Illustration of guitar

Illustration of guitar
  • 1 electric
  • 2 acoustic

Examples of guitar in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The performance began with just Yearwood and Brooks together, the former singing lead, and the latter plucking an acoustic guitar and providing a bit of backing vocals. Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 28 Nov. 2023 Yearwood took the lead on vocals as her husband played guitar and leaned in on backup vocals for this beautiful, hopeful tune. Rebecca Angel Baer, Southern Living, 28 Nov. 2023 With harmonies and an acoustic guitar, his rendition is gentle, but exudes just as much emotion. Sadie Bell, Peoplemag, 27 Nov. 2023 Ofri loves to play guitar and plays soccer like her younger brother Yuval. NBC News, 26 Nov. 2023 The program features unique arrangements of holiday favorites and fresh interpretations of traditional Christmas classics with Scott Wilkie on the piano, Pat Kelley on guitar; Nathan Brown on bass and Jeff Olson on drums. Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Nov. 2023 McCartney, Starr and Giles Martin worked together to create new guitar and drum tracks, along with string arrangements, while the AI extracted Lennon’s vocals from a lower-quality cassette recording. Abbey White, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Nov. 2023 Gibson Custom Color Les Paul Standard From $2,799 Few electric guitars are as iconic as Gibson’s Les Paul Standard. Ron Hart, SPIN, 22 Nov. 2023 As Gleckman tells it, he was given a guitar at age 6, and was writing music within a year. Lacey Rose, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Nov. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'guitar.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

1668, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of guitar was in 1668

Dictionary Entries Near guitar

Cite this Entry

“Guitar.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/guitar. Accessed 9 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

guitar

noun
gui·​tar gə-ˈtär How to pronounce guitar (audio)
: 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 noun
Etymology

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

More from Merriam-Webster on guitar

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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