Word.ws English Dictionary

rhythm and blues

rhythm and blues noun: a style of music combining elements of jazz and blues, with syncopated rhythms and a strong backbeat, originating among African Americans in the 1940s.

Noun

rhythm and blues

  1. A style of music combining elements of jazz and blues, with syncopated rhythms and a strong backbeat, originating among African Americans in the 1940s.
    Synonyms:
    R & B
  2. (Cockney, slang) Shoes.

Synonyms of rhythm and blues

Origin of rhythm and blues

First use appears c. 1924, in Billboard, replacing earlier race music.

Words formed from rhythm and blues

Questions about rhythm and blues

What does rhythm and blues mean?
Rhythm and blues means a style of music combining elements of jazz and blues, with syncopated rhythms and a strong backbeat, originating among African Americans in the 1940s.
What part of speech is rhythm and blues?
Rhythm and blues is a noun.

Words near rhythm and blues in the dictionary

  1. rhysodids
  2. rhysodine
  3. rhysodines
  4. rhyta
  5. rhythm
  6. rhythm and blues
  7. rhythm and grime
  8. rhythm box
  9. rhythm boxes
  10. rhythm game
  11. rhythm games

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: rhythm and blues (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: “rhythm and blues.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/rhythm_and_blues. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.