melody

noun

mel·o·dy | \ ˈme-lə-dē

plural melodies

Definition of melody

1 : a sweet or agreeable succession or arrangement of sounds whilst all the winds with melody are ringing— P. B. Shelley

2 : a rhythmic succession of single tones organized as an aesthetic whole a hummable melody the piper's fingers play the melody on a pipe called a chanter— Pat Cahill

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Examples of melody in a Sentence

He wrote a piece that includes some beautiful melodies. a composer known for his love of melody He sang a few old-fashioned melodies.

Recent Examples on the Web

Writing vocal hooks, especially melodies for all my songs, is my favorite thing to do. — Erica Gonzales, Harper's BAZAAR, "Sigrid Plans to Be Around for a Long Time," 11 Mar. 2019 This was no quiet moment between two lovers, no melody simply whispered in the other’s ear. — Elise Taylor, Vogue, "Justin Bieber Is the Ultimate Romantic Serenader," 3 Jan. 2019 The group of friends began playing together around 2008, pulling from pan-African sounds as well as pop and blues melodies. — Hannah Steinkopf-frank, RedEye Chicago, "5 must-see concerts in Chicago this week: the Suffers, Allman Brown and the Breeders," 3 May 2018 There is some voice-over but little dialogue in an ebb-and-flow soundtrack that alternates wailing folk melodies with choral chanting. — New York Times, "In ‘The Color of Pomegranates,’ the Cinema of the Cryptic," 24 May 2018 There is no melody in the third piece; the focus is a series of chords with shifting orchestrations. — Christian Hertzog, sandiegouniontribune.com, "La Jolla Symphony and Sameer Patel delight with 20th century masterpieces," 7 May 2018 The piece is based on a melody from Medieval composer Hildegard von Bingen, which is gradually introduced and developed as the music builds to a final dramatic fanfare. — Jessica Rudman, courant.com, "HSO's Celebration Of American Composers An Exciting Romp," 7 Apr. 2018 Review: Italian-American food at Come Back Inn is indulgent, rich and cheesy A musician was perched in this upper level space during a recent Sunday night dinner and the melody from his guitar drifted to the bar area below. — Lindsey Mcclave, The Courier-Journal, "Review: If Red Herring is this good already, we can only imagine what else is in store," 31 Jan. 2018 The exact same heartfelt, uplifting melody that was in the other two videos. — Jacqueline Detwiler, Popular Mechanics, "Why Does Every Tech Ad Use the Same Song? Because of This Man.," 26 Feb. 2019

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