Skip to main content
symphony

symphony

89 4.5
A large group of musicians who play together, with violins, flutes, trumpets, and drums
  • noun
  • /ˈsɪmfəni/
translation icon : orquesta sinfónica
  • Did you know that David was a featured soloist with the Santa Fe symphony when he was 13 years old?
  • symphony orchestra
  • symphony conductor
  • local symphony

I mean, my husband and I travelled, we went to the Symphony, we went to the ballet.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • The concert mistress of the symphony, a violinist and a good cellist in her own right.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • Here is the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by maestro James Levine, performing Ottorino Respighi's Pines of Rome.

  • This one time, he took us all to the symphony, my whole family.

  • A night out at the symphony

  • Contact the education office of the local orchestra or symphony with your idea for a professional development program.

    Academic text (1999)
  • The goal is to establish a youth symphony that will serve South Monterey County.

    Academic text (1996)
  • The second and third movements of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony repeated on the sound system.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • I went to hear string quartets, and I went to hear symphony orchestras.

    Academic text (1998)
  • I, uh, play the viola with the Glendale Symphony Orchestra.

  • We attended a breathtaking performance by the orchestra at the symphony last night.

Synonyms

orchestra
vssymphony
184 3.4

A large group of musicians who play instruments together, like violins and trumpets

is a specific large ensemble focused on performing large-scale classical works
philharmonic
vssymphony
33 8.0

A large orchestra that plays symphonies and other classical music

is used for a large ensemble that can perform large-scale classical works
symphony orchestra
vssymphony
8 3.3

A large group of musicians playing string, woodwind, brass and percussion instruments

is a general term for the same large ensemble able to play big classical pieces

Compounds

A large group of musicians playing string, woodwind, brass and percussion instruments

How Large

symphony
89 4.5
orchestra
184 3.4
quartet
30 3.5
duo
75 2.8

Surface Forms

symphony singular
symphonies plural

Etymology

The word symphony also came to mean the large group of musicians who make those 'sounds together', in other words the orchestra that plays symphonies.