folk singer
7
3.0
- noun
- /foʊk ˈsɪŋər/
:
cantante folk
- The folk singer captivated the audience with her soulful rendition of traditional ballads.
- folk singer-songwriter
- folk singer and guitarist
- young folk singer
Bob Dylan is a brilliant lyricist, but he's basically a folk singer.
- Bob Dylan is a brilliant lyricist, but he's basically a folk singer.
- But the Irish, we went my so I had them little influences from the Irish because my dad was an Irish folk singer.
Examples
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Corky is lying on her futon, staring up at the ceiling, a beer resting on her stomach; a folk singer quietly croons from the radio.
Fiction book (1996) -
This shift from soft-spoken crooner to bold indie folk singer fits Dan Mangan well.
Blog text (16) -
Uh... uh, was there a certain reason that you became a folk singer?
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I know you guys are closing up, but I was wondering if you got room for one more folk singer to audition.
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Hey, Mama, that's that folk singer I was telling you about.
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They have everyone except their folk singer.
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This is Llewyn Davis, our folk singer friend.
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My father when he was on ABC-Paramount Records, he was a folk singer, and... his guitar for all those years was a 1953 Martin D-28.
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Graham is a folk singer with an ashen beard, not a shoutcaster.
Blog text (18) -
Dylan once said that Ochs was the best of all those early '60s folk singers.
Blog text (34)
Synonyms
3
3.8
A person who sings and often writes simple traditional songs, usually with a guitar
2
8.1
A person who plays or sings traditional songs at small gatherings
A person who writes and sings folk songs that tell stories
How Traditional
7
3.0
3
2.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a singer who performs folk songs' is directly and transparently composed from 'folk' (traditional/community music) + 'singer' (a performer who sings). This noun‑noun compound follows a common and productive pattern in English (and similar patterns exist cross‑linguistically), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The term folk singer comes from folk meaning 'people' and singer meaning someone who sings. Imagine someone singing old songs by a fire for their community; that's why folk singer means a person who sings 'traditional' songs from a place or culture.