Meanings
strum1
verbstrum (third-person singular simple present strums, present participle strumming, simple past and past participle strummed)
present singular third person strums · participle present strumming · participle past strummed · past strummed
- ambitransitiveTo play (a guitar or other stringed instrument) by plucking various strings simultaneously.
Synonyms: thrum
nounstrum (plural strums)
plural strums
- The sound made by playing various strings of a stringed instrument simultaneously.
hear the strum of a guitar
- The act of strumming.
give the banjo a little strum
Strum2
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo play (a guitar or other stringed instrument) by plucking various strings simultaneously.
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Variant of thrum.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian дрънкам
- дрънкам (drănkam)play a stringed instrument
Chinese Mandarin 扫弦
- 扫弦 (sǎoxián)play a stringed instrument
Czech brnkat, zabrnkat
- brnkatplay a stringed instrument
- zabrnkatplay a stringed instrument
Dutch strummen
- strummenplay a stringed instrument
Finnish rämpyttää
- rämpyttääplay a stringed instrument
French racler, gratter
- raclerplay a stringed instrument
- gratterplay a stringed instrument
German schrammeln
- schrammelnplay a stringed instrument
Greek νύσσω
- νύσσω (nýsso)play a stringed instrument
Hawaiian koe, koekoe
- koeplay a stringed instrument
- koekoeplay a stringed instrument
Hungarian penget
- pengetplay a stringed instrument
Indonesian genjreng
- genjrengplay a stringed instrument
Italian schitarrare
- schitarrareplay a stringed instrument
Māori raku, raraku
- rakuplay a stringed instrument
- rarakuplay a stringed instrument
- rakurakuplay a stringed instrument
- rakirakiplay a stringed instrument
Polish brzdąkać, brzdąknąć
- brzdąkaćplay a stringed instrument
- brzdąknąćplay a stringed instrument
- brzdękaćplay a stringed instrument
- brzdęknąćplay a stringed instrument
Russian бренча́ть
- бренча́ть (brenčátʹ)play a stringed instrument
Spanish rasguear, charrasquear
- rasguearplay a stringed instrument
- charrasquearplay a stringed instrument
Vietnamese gảy, khảy
- gảyplay a stringed instrument
- khảyplay a stringed instrument
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with strum
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
strum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/strum
MLA
“strum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/strum. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “strum,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/strum.
Source: strum on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.