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Antonyms for ragtime


Grammar : Noun
Spell : rag-tahym
Phonetic Transcription : ˈrægˌtaɪm



Definition of ragtime

Origin :
  • also rag-time, "syncopated, jazzy piano music," 1897, perhaps from rag "dance ball" (1895, American English dialect), or a shortening of ragged, in reference to the syncopated melody. Rag (n.) "ragtime dance tune" is from 1899.
  • If rag-time was called tempo di raga or rague-temps it might win honor more speedily. ... What the derivation of the word is[,] I have not the faintest idea. The negroes call their clog-dancing "ragging" and the dance a "rag." [Rupert Hughes, Boston "Musical Record," April 1900]Conceive the futility of trying to reduce the intangible ragness to a strict system of misbegotten grace notes and untimely rests! In attempting to perfect, and simplify, art is destroying the unhampered spirit in which consists the whole beauty of rag-time music. The very essence of rag-time is that it shall lack all art, depending for the spirit to be infused more upon the performer than upon the composer himself. ["Yale Literary Magazine," June, 1899]Her first "rag-time" was "The Bully," in which she made great sport by bringing a little coloured boy on the stage with her. Miss [May] Irwin says the way to learn to sing "rag-time" is to catch a negro and study him. [Lewis C. Strang, "Famous Actresses of the Day in America," Boston, 1899]
  • As in jazz : noun style of music
  • As in music : noun sounds that are pleasant, harmonized
Example sentences :
  • While perhaps to generalise these delights, a trundled organ tossed a ragtime.
  • Extract from : « The Paliser case » by Edgar Saltus
  • Ragtime floated to us, and presently a snatch from "The Sultan of Sulu."
  • Extract from : « The Pirate of Panama » by William MacLeod Raine
  • The "piano specialty," which he originated, started the "ragtime" craze.
  • Extract from : « The Art of Stage Dancing » by Ned Wayburn
  • She made coffee in a fantastic percolator, and played Débussy and ragtime.
  • Extract from : « The Trail of the Hawk » by Sinclair Lewis
  • Life here hammers in the blood with something of the insistence of ragtime.
  • Extract from : « Nights in London » by Thomas Burke
  • Or is it that the ragtime kings have gone to the antiquities of the Orient for their melodies?
  • Extract from : « Nights in London » by Thomas Burke
  • If, in total ignorance, a resident of India asks you, "What is ragtime?"
  • Extract from : « Expository Writing » by Mervin James Curl
  • He was practicing the newest of the ragtime airs to get that far South.
  • Extract from : « Back Home » by Irvin S. Cobb
  • There is ragtime literature as well as ragtime music for the many.
  • Extract from : « Ponkapog Papers » by Thomas Bailey Aldrich
  • My heart beat in ragtime rhythm, and my pulse was out of the running.
  • Extract from : « Unicorns » by James Huneker

Synonyms for ragtime

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019