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Genre, as you might guess from the way it sounds, comes straight from French, a language based on Latin. It's closely related to genus, a word you may have encountered in biology class. Both words contain the gen- root because they indicate that everything in a particular category (a genre or a genus) belongs to the same "family" and thus has the same origins. So the main genres of classical music would include symphonies, sonatas, and opera, and the major genres of literature would include novels, short stories, poetry, and drama. But within the category of novels, we could also say that detective novels, sci-fi novels, romance novels, and young-adult novels are separate genres.
Synonyms
Examples of genre in a Sentence
Joyce Carol Oates, New York Review of Books, 14 Aug. 2003
One of the first marketers outside of hip-hop to recognize the power of the genre … . he first sent models sashaying down the runway in 1991 in hip-hop chic, with sneakers and chunky gold chains …
—Johnnie L. Roberts, Newsweek, 2 Sept. 2002
Even the local Catholic archdiocesan weekly, hardly an exciting genre, offers a more provocative sampling of opinion on its editorial page.
—Walker Percy, "New Orleans Mon Amour," 1968,
in Signposts in a Strange Land, 1991
This book is a classic of the mystery genre.
the novel's hero is of a different genre than the traditional kind
Tiara Allen, Austin American-Statesman, 22 Nov. 2024
Apple's feature includes much of the same listening data as Spotify's, including a user's top songs, top albums, top artists and top genres from throughout the year.
—Grace Tucker, The Enquirer, 22 Nov. 2024
One of the reasons to film seems to be reviewing better and is more highly praised than the original is because of Naomi Scott, the actor turning in a wildly different performance in this genre from her time as a rebooted Charlie’s Angel or playing Princess Jasmine in the live-action Aladdin movie.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes, 20 Nov. 2024
Avery has been a feature on the genre film circuit since his 2014 debut feature, the crime drama Son of a Gun, starring Ewan McGregor and Brenton Thwaites.
—Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Nov. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Genre.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/genre. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
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genre
noun
French
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