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Glite Dictionary
🎸 To play strings 🎸 A guitar sound
to strum

to strum

6 3.7
To play a string instrument by sweeping fingers or a pick across the strings in a steady rhythm
  • verb
  • /strʌm/
translation icon : rasguear
  • Robbie strums his guitar, breaking the tension in the room.
  • strum the guitar
  • strum the chords

So things like Red River Valley, my teacher strummed the chords.

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Examples

  • A man strums a guitar, bending forward from the waist and smiling unctuously, singing off-key right in her ear.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Kids cheer and Dad strums wildly at the end of the song.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Yes, but you have to strum.

    Prom (2011)

  • I took guitar lessons and I can strum a lot of Jack Johnson songs and I love that, right?

  • I'll give you $1 if you let me strum that guitar.

    Cadillac Records (2008)

  • The guitar player strums an old folk song, and more people join in the singing.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • Music and writing coexist as King David strums the chords on his lyre.

    Academic text (2006)

  • Underneath the tympanum, King David, dressed in imperial attire, sits on a throne and strums the strings of his lyre.

    Academic text (2006)

  • He began to strum a gentle melody on his guitar as the sun set.

  • While waiting for the concert to start, she decided to strum a few songs on her ukulele.

Synonyms

to play guitar
vsto strum
48 2.0

To make music using a guitar

focuses on sweeping strings rhythmically rather than just using an instrument
to pickin'
vsto strum
  • Informal
9.9

To play a guitar by plucking or strumming the strings

is the neutral standard term rather than a casual spoken form
to thrum
vsto strum
8.6

To play the strings of an instrument gently and repeatedly

uses a rhythmic sweeping motion across strings rather than gentle repetition

How Loud

to strum
6 3.7
pluck
6.1
to brush
133 1.6

Surface Forms

strum infinitive
strummed past
strummed past participle
strumming present participle
strums third person singular

Etymology

The word strum probably comes from an old sound word that copies the quick noise you make when you sweep strings, a bit like drum copies a beat. So to strum is to sweep your fingers or a pick across the strings to make music.