rock music

US/ˈɹɑk ˈmjuzɪk/UK/ˈɹɒk ˈmjuːzɪk/

noun

A broad genre of popular music, including especially those styles ultimately derived from rock and roll, employing electrical amplification, heavy use of guitars, 4/4 time with strong percussive rhythm on beats two and four (backbeat), and usually themes of bold wildness, rebellion, and sexuality.

Similar
rockrock and rollrock 'n' rollrock'n'rollrock-and-roll
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounrock music (uncountable)
  1. uncountableentertainmentA broad genre of popular music, including especially those styles ultimately derived from rock and roll, employing electrical amplification, heavy use of guitars, 4/4 time with strong percussive rhythm on beats two and four (backbeat), and usually themes of bold wildness, rebellion, and sexuality.

    Synonyms: rock, rock and roll

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA broad genre of popular music, including especially those styles ultimately derived from rock and roll, employing electrical amplification, heavy use of guitars, 4/4 time with strong percussive rhythm on beats two and four (backbeat), and usually themes of bold wildness, rebellion, and sexuality.

Similar
rockrock and roll

More synonyms by meaning

nouna genre of popular music originating in the 1950s; a blend of black rhythm-and-blues with white country-and-western

Similar
rock 'n' rollrock'n'rollrock-and-rollrock and rollrock
Broader
popular musicpopular music genre
Also see
rockrock and roll

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Shortening of rock and roll music, in use since circa 1966 to refer to genres of popular music which had grown sufficiently distinct from 1950s rock and roll.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans rockmusiek
  • rockmusiekpopular music genre
Arabic مُوسِيقَى الرُّوك, رُوك
  • مُوسِيقَى الرُّوك (mūsīqā r-rūk)popular music genre
  • رُوك (rūk)popular music genre
  • رُوك (rok)popular music genre
Bengali রক সঙ্গীত
  • রক সঙ্গীত (rok śoṅgit)popular music genre
Bulgarian рок му́зика
  • рок му́зика (rok múzika)popular music genre
Catalan música rock
  • música rockpopular music genre
Chinese Mandarin 搖滾音樂 /摇滚音乐, 搖滾樂 /摇滚乐
  • 搖滾音樂 /摇滚音乐 (yáogǔn yīnyuè)popular music genre
  • 搖滾樂 /摇滚乐 (yáogǔnyuè)popular music genre
Czech rock
  • rockpopular music genre
Danish rock
  • rockpopular music genre
Dutch rockmuziek
  • rockmuziekpopular music genre
Esperanto rokmuziko, roko
  • rokmuzikopopular music genre
  • rokopopular music genre
  • rok-muzikopopular music genre
Estonian rokk, rokkmuusika
  • rokkpopular music genre
  • rokkmuusikapopular music genre
Finnish rokki
  • rokkipopular music genre
French rock, musique rock
  • rockpopular music genre
  • musique rockpopular music genre
German Rockmusik
  • Rockmusikpopular music genre
Greek ροκ μουσική
  • ροκ μουσική (rok mousikí)popular music genre
Hebrew מוזיקת רוק
  • מוזיקת רוק (múzikat rok)popular music genre
Hindi रॉक
  • रॉक (rŏk)popular music genre
Hungarian rockzene, rock
  • rockzenepopular music genre
  • rockpopular music genre
Icelandic rokk
  • rokkpopular music genre
Indonesian musik rok
  • musik rokpopular music genre
Irish rac-cheol
  • rac-cheolpopular music genre
Italian rock
  • rockpopular music genre
Japanese ロック音楽, ロック
  • ロック音楽 (rokku ongaku)popular music genre
  • ロック (rokku)popular music genre
Korean 락 음악, 락
  • 락 음악 (rak eumak)popular music genre
  • 락 (rak)popular music genre
Latin rockiana, rociana
  • rockianapopular music genre
  • rocianapopular music genre
  • rockianuspopular music genre
  • rocianuspopular music genre
  • musica rockpopular music genre
Latvian rokmūzika, roks
  • rokmūzikapopular music genre
  • rokspopular music genre
Lithuanian rokas
  • rokaspopular music genre
Malay muzik rock
  • muzik rockpopular music genre
Norwegian Bokmål rockemusikk
  • rockemusikkpopular music genre
Polish rock
  • rockpopular music genre
Portuguese rock
  • rockpopular music genre
Punjabi ਰੌਕ ਸੰਗੀਤ
  • ਰੌਕ ਸੰਗੀਤ (rauk saṅgīt)popular music genre
Romanian muzică rock
  • muzică rockpopular music genre
Russian рок-му́зыка, рок
  • рок-му́зыка (rok-múzyka)popular music genre
  • рок (rok)popular music genre
Scottish Gaelic roc
  • rocpopular music genre
Slovak rock, rok
  • rockpopular music genre
  • rokpopular music genre
Swedish rockmusik
  • rockmusikpopular music genre
Tamil ராக் இசை
  • ராக் இசை (rāk icai)popular music genre
Thai ร็อก, เพลงร็อก
  • ร็อก (rɔ́k)popular music genre
  • เพลงร็อกpopular music genre
Turkish rock müzik
  • rock müzikpopular music genre
Ukrainian рок-му́зика
  • рок-му́зика (rok-múzyka)popular music genre
Urdu راک مُوسِیقِی
  • راک مُوسِیقِی (rāk mūsīqī)popular music genre
Vietnamese nhạc rock, rock
  • nhạc rockpopular music genre
  • rockpopular music genre
Welsh cerddoriaeth roc
  • cerddoriaeth rocpopular music genre
Cite this entry
APA

rock music. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rock%20music

MLA

“rock music.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rock%20music. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rock music,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rock%20music.

Source: rock music on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.