rockabilly means A genre of music originating from the South (United States) and mixing elements of rock, blues, country, hillbilly boogie and bluegrass music. It carries an Arena rating of 1437, earned across 91 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, rockabilly ranks #579 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #1,676 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #2,798 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #3,912 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words.
rockabilly is pronounced /ˈɹɒkəˌbɪli/.
Why “rockabilly” is a great word
ROCKABILLY — [Noun] A genre of music originating in the American South in the 1950s, blending rock and roll with hillbilly music. The word is a blend of 'rock' (from rock and roll) and 'hillbilly' (a term for rural Southern folk music), first attested 1955–60, coined by music industry figures such as record reviewers. Unlike rock and roll, a broader commercial cathedral, or psychobilly, its gothic-punk descendant, rockabilly is the primal, sun-bleached foundation. It is the slap-back echo in a Sun Records vocal, the frantic scrape of a slapped upright bass, and the twang of a hollow-body guitar across a linoleum floor; the brief, electric crackle of a cultural fault line snapping into rhythm.
Etymology
Blend of rock + hillbilly.
noun
- A genre of music originating from the South (United States) and mixing elements of rock, blues, country, hillbilly boogie and bluegrass music.
- A member of the subculture associated with rockabilly music.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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