English Reference
noun

melody

n.
US /ˈmɛɫədi/ UK /mˈɛlədi/ melody UK spelling melodies, melody's

  1. 01 B1 Intermediate Music

    a series of musical notes that follow each other to create a recognizable tune.

    a sequence of musical notes that are perceived as a single, coherent structure; the principal part in a harmonic composition.

    Simple

    The song has a simple melody that is very easy to whistle.

    In context

    The composer introduced a haunting melody in the first movement, which was later developed into a complex fugue by the woodwind section.

  2. 02 C1 Advanced Literary

    the quality of being pleasant to listen to because of the arrangement of sounds.

    the quality of being melodious or tuneful; sweet-sounding arrangement of words or musical tones.

    Simple

    I love the melody of the Italian language when it is spoken quickly.

    In context

    The poet was celebrated for the natural melody of his verse, which seemed to sing even when read silently from the page.

    melodiousnesstunefulnessmusicality
    discordcacophony

The best-performing model identified performers with 94.4% accuracy, while a more interpretable model that separated melody, harmony, rhythm and dynamics reached 91.3% accuracy.

Phys.org· 17 Aug 2026

Rod wanted the right sound for the melody line and went through the whole woodwind section of samples.

The Guardian· 17 Aug 2026

From the noun melody; in regular use since the 20th century.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Level C1 · Advanced
Frequency Frequent
Updated