Doo-wop
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that was mostly popular within Black Americans of African descent in the mid-1950s to the early 1960s that is best characterized by nonsensical backing vocals with very little to no instrumentation. uncountable
"The R&B groups possessed a grittiness and soulful earnestness that was soon to be emulated by street-corner doo-wop groups, some of whom would achieve commercial success with instrumentally arranged hit records."
- 2 a genre (usually a cappella) of Black vocal-harmony music of the 1950s that evolved in New York City from gospel singing; characterized by close four-part harmonies; the name derived from some of the nonsense syllables sung by the backup wordnet
- 1 To perform music in this style. intransitive
Example
More examples"The R&B groups possessed a grittiness and soulful earnestness that was soon to be emulated by street-corner doo-wop groups, some of whom would achieve commercial success with instrumentally arranged hit records."
Etymology
Coined by DJ Gus Gossert in the 1970s, referring to (mostly) white rock-and-roll groups of the late 1950s and early 1960s. The name is onomatopoeic, representing the nonlexical backing vocals of some songs of the genre.
Related phrases
More for "doo-wop"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.