rhythm means the variation of strong and weak elements (such as duration, accent) of sounds, notably in speech or music, over time; a beat or meter. It carries an Arena rating of 1945, earned across 18 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, rhythm ranks #92 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #157 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #1,183 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #1,311 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
rhythm is pronounced /ˈɹɪð.m̩/.
Why “rhythm” is a great word
The patterned recurrence of strong and weak elements in the flow of sound, movement, or time. From Latin rhythmus, from Ancient Greek ῥυθμός (rhuthmós, "any measured flow or movement, symmetry, rhythm"), from ῥέω (rhéō, "I flow"), first attested in English in the 16th century. Unlike "meter," which names a codified, often rigid structure, or "cadence," which implies a falling, conclusive pattern, rhythm is the continuous, felt pulse that carries through time. It is the staggered drip of a gutter after rain, the syncopated shuffle of a commuter crowd, and the dependable, tidal return of breath in a sleeping body—time made tangible, not counted, but felt in the blood, the silent order against which all entropy is measured.
noun
- The variation of strong and weak elements (such as duration, accent) of sounds, notably in speech or music, over time; a beat or meter.e.g.“Dance to the rhythm of the music.”
- A specifically defined pattern of such variation.e.g.“Most dances have a rhythm as distinctive as the Iambic verse in poetry”
- A flow, repetition or regularity.e.g.“Once you get the rhythm of it, the job will become easy.”
- The tempo or speed of a beat, song or repetitive event.e.g.“We walked with a quick, even rhythm.”
- The musical instruments which provide rhythm (mainly; not or less melody) in a musical ensemble.e.g.“The Baroque term basso continuo is virtually equivalent to rhythm”
- A regular quantitative change in a variable (notably natural) process.e.g.“The rhythm of the seasons dominates agriculture as well as wildlife”
- Controlled repetition of a phrase, incident or other element as a stylistic figure in literature and other narrative arts; the effect it creates.e.g.“The running gag is a popular rhythm in motion pictures and theater comedy”
- A person's natural feeling for rhythm.e.g.“That girl's got rhythm, watch her dance!”
verb
- To impart a (particular) rhythm to.e.g.“The pamphlet, writes Muray, 'is the supremely affirmative form in which nothing can be turned around, rhythmed or played with in synonyms and rhymes'.” — 1987, Ian Noble, Language and Narration in Céline’s Writings, page 194:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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