disco

1 of 3

noun

dis·​co ˈdi-(ˌ)skō How to pronounce disco (audio)
plural discos
1
: a nightclub for dancing to live and recorded music
2
: popular dance music characterized by hypnotic rhythm, repetitive lyrics, and electronically produced sounds

disco

2 of 3

verb

discoed; discoing; discos

intransitive verb

: to dance to disco music

disco-

3 of 3

combining form

see disc-

Examples of disco in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
But by the end of the ‘80s, Zambia’s economy was plummeting and disco was dying out. Tracy Kawalik, SPIN, 5 Mar. 2024 The look of Voltaire matches your dreamy disco aesthetic. Seth Abramovitch, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Mar. 2024 Picture a lot of spandex, disco ball helmets and capes. Lisa Lucas, Washington Post, 27 Feb. 2024 Their roster of 39 artists are known for eccentric practices that sometimes involve welding spacecrafts, transforming into a human disco ball and studying tree bark. Zachary Small, New York Times, 27 Feb. 2024 The Blessed Madonna initially simplifies the production before turning the dial up on the track’s string section, ramping up into all-out disco bliss (and giving us more of a good thing, by extending the track by a full minute and a half). Katie Bain, Billboard, 23 Feb. 2024 The mark of a truly successful St. Moritz trip, however, is scoring an invitation to the exclusive members-only Dracula Club, where the late-night disco dancing is as thrilling as the polo itself. Todd Plummer, Robb Report, 23 Feb. 2024 Now, like a shiny holographic disco horse, Beyoncé is atop the social web. Angela Watercutter, WIRED, 21 Feb. 2024 Following their dance, the couple rejoined their friends and family outside the bathroom, greeted with cheers, applause, and a Nothing Bundt Cake adorned with disco balls. Jordan Greene, Peoplemag, 21 Feb. 2024
Verb
Marlena Shaw, who cultivated a sultry stage presence and husky voice from the final echoes of the big-band era, to the go-go Playboy Clubs of the 1960s, to the rise of funk, to disco and finally to the modern cabaret circuit, died on Jan. 19. Alex Traub, New York Times, 28 Jan. 2024 In his work at Norby Walters Associates, Walters continued booking talented musicians across a variety of genres from soul to disco to R&B such as Marvin Gaye, Patti LaBelle and, for a short time, Michael Jackson. Valerie Wu, Variety, 21 Dec. 2023 Leftover Halloween decorations hung overhead as people rocked and swayed on the Gossip Grill dance floor to a range of music genres, from Afrobeats to disco. Jireh Deng, Los Angeles Times, 28 Nov. 2023 Here, the soundtrack is just as important—and eclectic—as the drinks, switching seamlessly from funk to disco to jazz. Sophie Prideaux, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Nov. 2023 Early on, Gerwig used the Bee Gees and ’70s discos as a reference point for Ronson. Maria Sherman, Fortune, 18 July 2023 For those who want to disco the night away, a Pride edition of Silent Disco starts at 8 p.m. in Klyde Warren Park. Norma Cavazos, Dallas News, 1 June 2023 The duo recorded seven stylistically varied studio albums that drifted from trip-hop to glam rock to disco to indie to folk, sometimes crossing back, with a common thread: the airy-yet-hearty multi-octave voice of its namesake. Rich Juzwiak, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2023 Cancún tends to be more party heavy year-round, with bass-thumping beach clubs and discos like Coco Bongo. Meagan Drillinger, Travel + Leisure, 5 Mar. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'disco.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

short for discotheque

First Known Use

Noun

1957, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1976, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of disco was in 1957

Dictionary Entries Near disco

Cite this Entry

“Disco.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disco. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

disco

noun
dis·​co
ˈdis-kō
plural discos
: a nightclub for dancing to music

More from Merriam-Webster on disco

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