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genre

noun

ˈzhän-rə

ˈzhäⁿ-;

ˈzhäⁿr;

ˈjän-rə

Synonyms ofgenre next

:a category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content

a classic of the gothic novelgenre

:kind,sort

:painting that depicts scenes or events from everyday life usually realistically

Did you know?

Genre, as you might guess from the way it sounds, comes straight from French, a language based on Latin. It's closely related togenus, a word you may have encountered in biology class. Both words contain thegen- 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

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Examples ofgenre in a Sentence

Ingenre fiction there is an implied contract between writer and reader that justice of a kind will be exacted; "good" may not always triumph over "evil," but the distinction between the two must be honored.—

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 thegenre … . 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 excitinggenre, offers a more provocative sampling of opinion on its editorial page.—

Walker Percy,"New Orleans Mon Amour,"1968,inSignposts in a Strange Land, 1991

This book is a classic of the mysterygenre. the novel's hero is of a differentgenre than the traditional kind

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage.Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.Send us feedback.

Manning co-founded Omaha with Jamie Horowitz and has produced and sold over 30 television shows and movies, scripted and unscripted, to major networks and streaming platforms, spanninggenresfrom sports to lifestyle to comedy.—

Jill Goldsmith,Deadline, 27 Mar. 2025With her bubbly charm, dazzling aura and universal appeal, Selena Quintanilla revolutionized the Tejanogenrein the ‘80s and ‘90s by lacing her authentic Mexican roots with bold new sounds such as R&B, pop, dance and rock.—

Becky G,Billboard, 27 Mar. 2025Between this and the forthcoming Queens of the Dead, Haven has a clear future in the horror (and horror-comedy)genre.—

Mathew Rodriguez,Them., 27 Mar. 2025That means often adding a sense ofgenre, comprehensible for overseas viewers, or narrative propulsion.—

John Hopewell,Variety, 26 Mar. 2025See All Example Sentences forgenre