genre

[ zhahn-ruh; French zhahn-ruh ]

noun

, plural gen·res [zhahn, -r, uh, z, zhahn, -, r, uh].

1. a class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular form, content, technique, or the like:

   the genre of epic poetry; the genre of symphonic music.

2. Fine Arts.
   1. paintings in which scenes of everyday life form the subject matter.
   2. a realistic style of painting using such subject matter.
3. genus; kind; sort; style.

adjective

1. Fine Arts. of or relating to genre.
2. of or relating to a distinctive literary type.

genre

/ ˈʒɑːnrə /

noun

1. 1. kind, category, or sort, esp of literary or artistic work
   2. ( as modifier )

      genre fiction

2. a category of painting in which domestic scenes or incidents from everyday life are depicted

genre

1. The kind or type of a work of art, from the French, meaning “kind” or “ genus .” Literary genres include the novel and the sonnet . Musical genres include the concerto and the symphony . Film genres include Westerns and horror movies.

Word History and Origins

Origin of genre¹

First recorded in 1760–70; from French: “kind, sort”; gender ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of genre¹

C19: from French, from Old French gendre; see gender

Example Sentences

In recent years, “lo-fi chill” and other forms of “focus music” have become so popular that there are now multiple YouTube channels devoted to the genre.

From MIT Technology Review

Throughout the process, Thio worked with lo-fi producers to curate bass lines, drum lines, and background ambience that exemplify the genre and sound good.

From MIT Technology Review

Stell is a rapidly rising artist in the electronic and dance scene, though his songs don’t fit neatly in the genre.

From Outside Online

Studios with a very focused portfolio around a specific genre — Viker’s core focus is social casino-type games — may benefit from advertisers who shift to more broad-based, contextual targeting, he added.

From Digiday

The genre-bender is well-cast and suspenseful, and the cliffhanger ending suggests there’s more to come.

From Singularity Hub 

People watch night soaps because the genre allows them to believe in a world where people just react off their baser instincts.

From The Daily Beast

A lot of the culture around movies in the sci-fi/fantasy genre is about deconstructing them ad nauseam.

From The Daily Beast

I came [to personal essays] through the route of, if you want to call it intellection or a kind of interpretive [genre].

From The Daily Beast

You had a great line in your piece on Geoffrey Beene about the “genre” of evening wear.

From The Daily Beast

Phonetic, made-up lyrics are another venerable tradition of folk music, and “pa-rum-pa-pa-pum” is iconic of the genre.

From The Daily Beast

Mrs. Woodbury paints in oils and water-colors; the latter are genre scenes, and among them are several Dutch subjects.

From Project Gutenberg

They live in Stockholm, where she paints portraits and genre subjects.

From Project Gutenberg

Occasionally this artist has painted genre subjects, but her real success has not been in this direction.

From Project Gutenberg

Unfortunately, the art of genre painting did not exist in those days, and that of engraving was in its infancy.

From Project Gutenberg

Tout le monde sait que l'Allemagne possede en ce genre des trsors qui ont t jusqu'ici comme enfouis pour la France.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• brand
• category
• character
• fashion
• kind
• style