ragtime
noun
rag·time
| \ ˈrag-ˌtīm
\
\
Definition of ragtime
1
: rhythm characterized by strong syncopation in the melody with a regularly accented accompaniment in stride-piano style
2
: music having ragtime rhythm
Examples of ragtime in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Performances can include jazz, ragtime, folk, classical or — as happened when a group of visiting Fulbright scholars stumbled in — the Ukrainian national song. — Rebecca Tan, Washington Post, "Their music was ready to spill out. All they needed was a piano.," 27 July 2019 From jazz to bluegrass, country to ragtime, hip-hop to barbershop quartets, the celebration of music as a boundary-breaking, uplifting art was the focus of the street festival. — Denise Coffey, courant.com, "American Music Celebrated At Putnam’s First Friday," 17 June 2019 Gregory Hines won best actor in a musical for playing ragtime and jazz pianist Jelly Roll Morton in Jelly's Last Jam (1992). — Paul Grein, Billboard, "9 Actors Who Have Won Tonys for Portraying Real-Life Music Stars," 9 June 2019 The music of William Bolcom spans quite a range, from rigorous symphonic writing to derivative ragtime-piano noodlings. — Howard Reich, chicagotribune.com, "Grant Park Orchestra review: A fitting 80th birthday tribute to William Bolcom," 7 July 2018 One of his groups, the Society Orchestra, supplied music for the Castles, the husband-and-wife team responsible for popularizing ragtime dances. — John Check, WSJ, "‘Making Music American’ Review: Turning Swords Into Saxophones," 28 Dec. 2018 His ragtime compositions and symphonies are wonderful music. — Tom Keogh, The Seattle Times, "Philharmonia Northwest presents old and new music created entirely by Seattle composers," 14 Nov. 2018 Joplin was forgotten, and ragtime became an obscurity of Americana. — Alex Vadukul, New York Times, "The Forgotten Entertainer Rag," 24 May 2018 The ten-person cast sings well to the accompaniment of an offstage chamber quartet, and Doyle's music evokes Gilded Age Chicago with waltzes and ragtime pieces as well as delicate art songs in the manner of Ned Rorem and Samuel Barber. — Albert Williams, Chicago Reader, "There's no devil in Burnham's Dream: The White City, only music," 14 June 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ragtime.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for ragtime
ragtime
noun
English Language Learners Definition of ragtime
: a type of lively music that is often played on the piano and that was very popular in the U.S. in the early part of the 20th century
See the full definition for ragtime in the English Language Learners Dictionary
ragtime
noun
rag·time
| \ ˈrag-ˌtīm
\
\
Kids Definition of ragtime
: music that has a lively melody and a steady rhythm like a march
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