torch song

Definition of torch song

: a popular sentimental song of unrequited love

Examples of torch song in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Her vocals are low and performed in the ‘50s and ‘60s crooner style on several songs, giving them a torch song vibe that is rarely heard in pop today but would be familiar to fans of Julie London, Peggy Lee, or Shirley Horn. — Courtney E. Smith, refinery29.com, "Taylor Swift Knows Lover Is All You Need," 24 Aug. 2019 Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's 1970 rock opera about the last days of the Messiah's life was nominated for five Tony Awards and spawned a top 40 hit in I Don't Know How to Love Him, Mary Magdalene's torch song. — Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, "NBC brings back 'Jesus Christ Superstar' for John Legend's live musical," 29 Mar. 2018 On this bleak torch song from Dangerous Woman, Gray plays Grande’s conscience, begging her to walk away from a toxic lover. — Richard S. He, Billboard, "Every Ariana Grande Song, Ranked," 27 Apr. 2018 Any song, in her voice, turns into a torch song — mature, elegant, restrained, swollen with pathos — made for candlelit stages and a body splayed across a piano, like Michelle Pfeiffer in The Fabulous Baker Boys, except vocally talented. — Allison P. Davis, The Cut, "Jorja Smith Hopes She Isn’t Boring You," 7 June 2018 Adele deconstructs the 1989 Cure classic and turns it into a Latin-tinged torch song. — Chuck Arnold, Billboard, "Every Adele Song Ranked: Critic's Picks," 4 May 2018 Ere long a torch song singer was crooning some Jazz Age hits and the dance floor was crowded with flappers in fringed black shimmy frocks and their tuxedoed swains, giving us full-on Chicago in New York. — Hamish Bowles, Vogue, "Hamish Bowles Goes Inside Dolce & Gabbana’s Alta Moda and Sartoria Events in New York City," 9 Apr. 2018 The arrangements vary, from ambient electronica and Appalachian Gothic to contemporary torch song and bluegrass gospel, with scarcely a hint of Cash’s trademark freight-train rhythms. — Bill Friskics-warren, New York Times, "Johnny Cash’s Poems Get a Second Life as Songs," 3 Apr. 2018 Featuring a quintet of sizzling performers, conductor Harry Mayronne Jr. and directors Victoria Reed and Heidi Malnar captured the rollicking spirit of Waller through high-strutting numbers to the most soulful torch songs. — NOLA.com, "Here are the top 10 musicals on New Orleans stages in 2017," 28 Dec. 2017

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

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about torch song

Dictionary Entries near torch song

torch-tree family

Statistics for torch song

Cite this Entry

“Torch song.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/torch%20song. Accessed 19 January 2020.

Keep scrolling for more

WORD OF THE DAY

intercalate

to insert between existing elements

Test Your Vocabulary

The Eponym Quiz

Which is the best synonym of bowdlerize?

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.