reggae

CEFRB1

/ˈɹɛɡeɪ/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A style of Jamaican popular music with a strong rhythm.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s and is heavily associated with Rastafarianism, featuring a heavy bass line and percussive rhythm guitar on the offbeat, often with close vocal harmonies.

Examples

  • I heard some reggae music playing in the distance.

  • Tom knows Mary likes reggae.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
2
Parts of speech
1
Citations
2

Deep Dive

More examples

In context

  • What do you think of reggae?

  • Near-synonym: (earlier) bluebeat

  • I want to do the reggay with you / Come onto me, do the dance

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Bob Marley is known for popularizing blank music around the world in the 1970s.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Jamaican Creole rege (“rags; a quarrel”), see rag; originally used in the 1960s to describe a Jamaican dance. Compare ragtime. Broader musical sense popularized by the 1968 Maytals song “Do the Reggay”.