theme song

noun

plural theme songs

: a song or melody strongly associated with someone or something

a famous performer's theme song

the theme song of a political campaign

often : an identifying melody or song typically played at the beginning of a movie, television show, etc., and sometimes recurring during its course

Some of these shows were truly unforgettable, with catchy theme songs that are instantly recognizable decades later. —

Grant Butler

: a statement, expression, or opinion repeatedly heard from someone

But literary history is also entangled with criticism. Inevitably so; let me revert unblushingly to my theme song: in order to appreciate a masterpiece, we must be acquainted with its language …—

Albert Guerard

Example Sentences

He was playing the theme song from “The Godfather.”

Recent Examples on the Web Starting the new year strong, Eilish became the youngest artist to ever write and record a James Bond theme song. —

Janine Henni, Peoplemag, 18 Dec. 2022 One of the artists behind a theme song of the 2022 World Cup stopped a live TV interview and walked out after he was asked about the issue of Qatar's human rights record. —

Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY, 21 Nov. 2022 The Sound of 007 — which explores the making of the James Bond themes throughout the years — and shed light on the Amy Winehouse theme song that sadly never came to fruition. —

Starr Bowenbank, Billboard, 30 Sep. 2022 College buddies Trey Parker and Matt Stone needed a theme song for their upcoming TV show, an irreverent cartoon about four foul-mouthed young boys in a Colorado mountain town called South Park. —

Los Angeles Times, 9 Aug. 2022 Antacid count: Only three — despite their questionable culinary practices, these monsters are cute and have a catchy theme song. —

Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 8 July 2022 The first notes of The Addams Family theme song open the performance, in which Valieva is joined by Wednesday Addams’ sidekick, a hand named Thing. —

Amanda Curran, Glamour, 31 Dec. 2022 She's played an impressively ruthless game in an endearing and entertaining fashion complete with her own theme song. —

Dalton Ross, EW.com, 11 Nov. 2021 The show’s first season debuted in 2020 and was full of surprises, from meditations on scaffolding, to a Kyle MacLachlan spotting, to a foreskin-growing machine complete with its own theme song. —

Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 16 Sep. 2021 See More

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