ragtime

[ rag-tahym ]
See synonyms for ragtime on Thesaurus.com
nounMusic.
  1. rhythm in which the accompaniment is strict two-four time and the melody, with improvised embellishments, is in steady syncopation.

  2. a style of American music having this rhythm, popular from about 1890 to 1915.

Origin of ragtime

1
1895–1900; probably rag(ged) + time

Other words from ragtime

  • ragtimey, adjective

Words Nearby ragtime

Other definitions for Ragtime (2 of 2)

Ragtime
[ rag-tahym ]

noun
  1. a novel (1975) by E. L. Doctorow.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use ragtime in a sentence

  • There was a distinct predilection in favour of "ragtime" and I must say I liked to hear that music at frequent intervals.

    The Home of the Blizzard | Douglas Mawson
  • He had all the new ragtime songs and dances, which he rendered to his own accompaniment on an old battered banjo.

    The Major | Ralph Connor
  • She would sing; and her fresh young voice broke forth into ragtime song.

  • She had tried to induce her cousin to join her, but that young lady was absorbed in running over a new ragtime song.

  • A former age expressed itself in Gregorian chants; ours, no less sincerely, disguises its feelings in ragtime.

    Carry On | Coningsby Dawson

British Dictionary definitions for ragtime

ragtime

/ (ˈræɡˌtaɪm) /


noun
  1. a style of jazz piano music, developed by Scott Joplin around 1900, having a two-four rhythm base and a syncopated melody

Origin of ragtime

1
C20: probably from ragged + time

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for ragtime

ragtime

A style of early jazz music written largely for the piano in the early twentieth century, characterized by jaunty rhythms and a whimsical mood.

Notes for ragtime

Scott Joplin was a famous composer and performer of ragtime.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.