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Glite Dictionary
ragtime

ragtime

7 7.0
Lively piano music with a syncopated, bouncy melody popular around 1900
  • noun
  • /ˈræɡtaɪm/
  • Archaic
: ragtime
  • Rice suggests that African American music taught in colleges and universities is limited to jazz, blues, and ragtime.
  • ragtime band

Examples

  • Many people enjoy listening to ragtime music during summer picnics and outdoor parties.

  • Irving Berlin wrote a hundred songs... before he hit it with "Alexander's Ragtime Band."

    Kiss Me, Stupid (1964)

  • You know, "Come on and hear, come on and hear Alexander's Ragtime Band."

    Crutch (2004)

  • The orchestra would have gathered, and they started playing ragtime.

    Ghosts of the Abyss (2003)

  • Scott Joplin, king of ragtime composers, would be an interesting musical figure to study.

    Academic text (2003)

  • Well, maestro, when does Alexander's Ragtime Band hit Broadway?

    Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938)

  • Possibly the most successful popular song of all time was Irving Berlin's 1911 "Alexander's Ragtime Band," a song about music.

    Academic text (2004)

  • Dixieland was born from the convergence of slave songs, brass band marches, ragtime, and blues.

    Academic text (2012)

  • Incorporating Harlem stride piano, ragtime piano styles, and chords without a tonal center, it is a challenging composition that highlights Ellington's skills as a pianist.

    Academic text (1999)

  • The sound of ragtime filled the air as the pianist skillfully played a lively melody.

Synonyms

rag
vsragtime
  • Archaic
4 8.0

A lively piano piece in the ragtime style

is the overall musical style defined by syncopated piano melodies

Surface Forms

ragtime singular
ragtimes plural

Morphology

ragtime = rag + time (semi-transparent) = rag + time

The compound combines 'rag' (a specialized musical sense meaning a syncopated or 'ragged' style) and 'time' (rhythm), but the musical sense of 'rag' is slang/specialized and not obvious to learners who only know 'rag' as cloth.

Etymology

Ragtime comes from rag (like in 'ragged', meaning uneven or lively) and time ('beat' or 'rhythm'). So ragtime is music with a strong 'off-beat' feel, a lively, slightly uneven rhythm that makes it great for dancing.