hootenanny

[ hoot-n-an-ee, hoot-nan- ]

noun

, plural hoot·en·an·nies.

1. a social gathering or informal concert featuring folk singing and, sometimes, dancing.
2. an informal session at which folk singers and instrumentalists perform for their own enjoyment.
3. Older Use. thingamajig ( def ).

hootenanny

/ ˈhuːtˌnænɪ; ˈhuːtəˌnænɪ /

noun

1. an informal performance by folk singers
2. something the name of which is unspecified or forgotten

Word History and Origins

Origin of hootenanny¹

First recorded in 1910–15; origin uncertain

Word History and Origins

Origin of hootenanny¹

C20: of unknown origin

Example Sentences

In 1972, Time Magazine said the holiday had become “a three-day nationwide hootenanny that seems to have lost much of its original purpose.”

From Washington Times

Even if you don’t give a hootenanny about folk music, you’ve probably heard Williams play.

From Seattle Times

It started when a local drum and dance group performed to honor their guests, and it quickly turned into an impromptu hootenanny.

From Seattle Times

His older sister, Bernice, hosted the Ash Grove’s predecessors — the famed hootenannies — at her home in the early 1950s.

From Los Angeles Times

The Dukes play it as a rollicking hootenanny, with Earle growling its sardonic twist on a folk cliché: “I don’t know where I’m going no more/I don’t know, and I don’t care.”

From New York Times