doo-wop

noun

A style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that was mostly popular within Black Americans of African descent in the mid-1950s to the early 1960s that is best characterized by nonsensical backing vocals with very little to no instrumentation.

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Meanings

noundoo-wop (uncountable)

alternative rare doowop · alternative doo wop

  1. uncountableA style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that was mostly popular within Black Americans of African descent in the mid-1950s to the early 1960s that is best characterized by nonsensical backing vocals with very little to no instrumentation.

    The R&B groups possessed a grittiness and soulful earnestness that was soon to be emulated by street-corner doo-wop groups, some of whom would achieve commercial success with instrumentally arranged hit records.

    2016, Lawrence Pitilli, Doo-Wop Acappella, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 27
verbdoo-wop (third-person singular simple present doo-wops, present participle doo-wopping, simple past and past participle doo-wopped)

present singular third person doo-wops · participle present doo-wopping · participle past doo-wopped · past doo-wopped · alternative rare doowop · alternative doo wop

  1. intransitiveTo perform music in this style.

Origin

Coined by DJ Gus Gossert in the 1970s, referring to (mostly) white rock-and-roll groups of the late 1950s and early 1960s. The name is onomatopoeic, representing the nonlexical backing vocals of some songs of the genre.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

doo-wop. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doo-wop

MLA

“doo-wop.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doo-wop. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “doo-wop,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doo-wop.

Source: doo-wop on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.