Guitar

//ɡɪˈtɑɹ// noun, verb, slang

noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A stringed musical instrument, of European origin, usually with a fretted fingerboard and six strings, played with the fingers or a plectrum (guitar pick).

    "Learning to strum the guitar rhythmically is essential."

  2. 2
    a stringed instrument usually having six strings; played by strumming or plucking wordnet
  3. 3
    Any type of musical instrument of the lute family, characterized by a flat back, along with a neck whose upper surface is in the same plane as the soundboard, with strings along the neck and parallel to the soundboard.
Verb
  1. 1
    To play the guitar. informal

    "We guitared and drummed and head banged and pianoed."

Synonyms

All synonyms
archluteaxeaxebalalaikabanjobanjo-uke

Antonyms

All antonyms
band

Example

More examples

"You play the guitar quite like a professional, don't you?"

Etymology

Etymology tree Ancient Greek κῐθᾰ́ρᾱ (kĭthắrā)bor. Aramaic קיתראbor. Arabic قِيثَارَة (qīṯāra)bor. Old Spanish guitarra Spanish guitarrabor. English guitar From Spanish guitarra, from Arabic قِيثَارَة (qīṯāra), from Ancient Greek κῐθᾰ́ρᾱ (kĭthắrā). Doublet of cithara, cither, and zither.

Related phrases

Baroque guitarHawaiian guitarPortuguese guitarRussian guitarSchrammel guitarSelmer guitarSpanish guitaracoustic guitarair guitararmónico guitarbaritone guitarbass guitar

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.