Meanings
noungenre-bender (uncountable)
- uncountableA work of fiction characterized by subversion of generic tropes or fusion of disparate genres.
Among the fest’s highlights this year were Babak Anvari’s Hallow Road, an inventive genre-bender that begins as a road thriller before slyly morphing into something else entirely.
2025 March 17, Meagan Navarro, “SXSW 2025 Review Roundup: Gravedigging Comedy ‘Dead Lover’ to Teen Body Horror Satire ‘Slanted’”, in Bloody Disgusting
Origin
From genre + bender, on the pattern of gender bender.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
genre-bender. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/genre-bender
MLA
“genre-bender.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/genre-bender. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “genre-bender,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/genre-bender.
Source: genre-bender on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.