Word.ws English Dictionary

strathspey

/stɹæθˈspeɪ/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Scotland/stɹaθˈspeː/

strathspey noun: a Scottish dance with gliding steps, slower than a reel.

Noun

strathspey (plural strathspeys)

  1. A Scottish dance with gliding steps, slower than a reel.
  2. A piece of music composed for or in the rhythm of this dance.
    • He muttered an exclamation in Gaelic, strode across the floor, and then, with an air of dogged resolution, as if prepared to see the scene to an end, sate himself down on the oak table and whistled a strathspey.1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter IX, in Rob Roy. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst...
    • Arms are raised, the cheers are deafening, the pipes turn to a strathspey and a whole section of the crowd launches into a mad jig.1982, TC Boyle, Water Music, Penguin, published 2006, page 239

Proper noun capitalized: Strathspey

Strathspey

  1. The area encompassing the upper part of the strath (valley) of Scotland’s River Spey in Highland council area, from its source in Loch Spey to the strath’s capital, Grantown-on-Spey.
    Synonyms:
    Speyside

Synonyms of strathspey

Forms of strathspey

pluralstrathspeys

Origin of strathspey

After Strathspey, valley of the river Spey.

From strath + Spey, an adaptation of Scottish Gaelic Srath Spè.

Words that rhyme with strathspey

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about strathspey

What does strathspey mean?
Strathspey means a Scottish dance with gliding steps, slower than a reel.
What part of speech is strathspey?
Strathspey can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce strathspey?
Strathspey is pronounced /stɹæθˈspeɪ/.
What is the plural of strathspey?
The plural of strathspey is strathspeys.

Words near strathspey in the dictionary

  1. Strathmore
  2. Strathmore Heights
  3. Strathmore weed
  4. Strathpeffer
  5. straths
  6. strathspey
  7. strathspeys
  8. Strathtay
  9. Strathtulloh
  10. Strathyre
  11. strati

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: strathspey (page history and authors); Strathspey (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: “strathspey.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/strathspey. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.