Word.ws English Dictionary

backbeat

backbeat noun: the sharp accent on the second and fourth beats of rock music in 4/4 time.

Noun

backbeat (plural backbeats)

  1. The sharp accent on the second and fourth beats of rock music in 4/4 time.
    • Just let me hear some of that rock and roll music / Any old way you choose it / It's got a back beat, you can't lose it, / Any old time you use it1957, “Rock and Roll Music”, performed by Chuck Berry

Forms of backbeat

pluralbackbeats
alternative formback beat

Origin of backbeat

From back + beat.

Questions about backbeat

What does backbeat mean?
Backbeat means the sharp accent on the second and fourth beats of rock music in 4/4 time.
What part of speech is backbeat?
Backbeat is a noun.
What is the plural of backbeat?
The plural of backbeat is backbeats.

Words near backbeat in the dictionary

  1. backbars
  2. backbeach
  3. backbeaches
  4. backbearing
  5. backbearings
  6. backbeat
  7. backbeats
  8. backbench
  9. backbencher
  10. backbenchers
  11. backbenches

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: backbeat (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “backbeat.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/backbeat. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.