contrabass

[ kon-truh-beys ]

noun

1. (in any family of instruments) the member below the bass.
2. (in the violin family) the double bass.

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of such instruments:

   a contrabass trombone.

contrabass

/ ˌkɒntrəˈbeɪsɪst; ˌkɒntrəˈbeɪs; -ˈbæs- /

noun

1. a member of any of various families of musical instruments that is lower in pitch than the bass
2. another name for double bass

adjective

1. of or denoting the instrument of a family that is lower than the bass

Derived Forms

• contrabassist, noun

Other Words From

• con·tra·bass·ist [kon, -tr, uh, -bey-sist, -bas-ist], noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of contrabass¹

From Italian, dating back to 1590–1600; contrabasso

Example Sentences

Smerilli performed most of the instruments himself, including the inky depths of a contrabass clarinet, which he purchased and learned just for this score.

From Los Angeles Times

It was a deep, rolling, glorious contrabass; once described as the sound that "Moses heard when addressed by God."

From BBC

Chase makes virtuosically parched, percussive exhalations; she can be sheerly sweet on the standard flute and has, on the enormous contrabass flute, the milky penetration of a whale’s deep-sea call.

From New York Times

Contra — Means lower: for example a contrabassoon sounds lower than a regular bassoon43 , and a contrabass clarinet is even lower than a bass clarinet.

From Literature

Terror turns to mere sadness as a muted ensemble of bassoon and three contrabass clarinets — a feature of Eastman’s idiosyncratic, extravagant orchestration — offers a stunned postlude.

From New York Times