Phrase guide

classical music

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈklæːsəkəl mjuːzɪk/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈklasɪk(ə)l ˈmjuːzɪk/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Music of the classical period; the music of Mozart, Haydn, etc; the musical period before the romantic.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The more serious forms of music, taught through formal education and performed according to strict rules, as opposed to folk music or popular music.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

traditional genre of music conforming to an established form and appealing to critical interest and developed musical taste

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: classical, serious music

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: music genre, musical genre, genre, musical style

Narrower terms: chamber music, opera, cantata, oratorio, concerto, fugue, rondo, rondeau, sonata

History

Etymology

From classical + music.

Across languages

Translations

115 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: klassieke musiek — music of the classical period
  • Albanian: muzikë klasike — music of the classical period
  • Albanian: muzika klasike — music of the classical period
  • Arabic: مُوسِيقَى كْلَاسِيكِيَّة (mūsīqā klāsīkiyya) — music of the classical period
  • Armenian: դասական երաժշտություն (dasakan eražštutʻyun) — music of the classical period
  • Azerbaijani: klassik musiqi — music of the classical period
  • Belarusian: класі́чная му́зыка (klasíčnaja múzyka) — music of the classical period
  • Belarusian: клясы́чная му́зыка (kljasýčnaja múzyka) — music of the classical period
  • Belarusian: кла́сіка (klásika) — music of the classical period
  • Belarusian: кля́сыка (kljásyka) — music of the classical period
  • Bengali: ধ্রুপদী সঙ্গীত (dhrupodi śoṅgit) — music of the classical period
  • Bulgarian: класи́ческа му́зика (klasíčeska múzika) — music of the classical period
  • Burmese: ဂန္ထဝင်ဂီတ (ganhta.wanggita.) — music of the classical period
  • Carpathian Rusyn: класі́чна му́зика (klasíčna múzyka) — music of the classical period
  • Chinese Mandarin: 古典音樂 /古典音乐 (gǔdiǎn yīnyuè) — music of the classical period
  • Chinese Mandarin: 古典樂 /古典乐 (gǔdiǎnyuè) — music of the classical period
  • Corsican: musica classica — music of the classical period
  • Czech: klasická hudba — music of the classical period
  • Danish: klassisk musik — music of the classical period
  • Dutch: klassieke muziek — music of the classical period
  • Esperanto: klasika muziko — music of the classical period
  • Estonian: klassikaline muusika — music of the classical period
  • Finnish: klassinen musiikki — music of the classical period
  • French: musique classique — music of the classical period
  • French: classique — music of the classical period
  • West-Frisian: klassike muzyk — music of the classical period
  • Galician: música clásica — music of the classical period
  • Georgian: კლასიკური მუსიკა (ḳlasiḳuri musiḳa) — music of the classical period
  • German: Klassik — music of the classical period
  • German: Klassische Musik — music of the classical period
  • Greek: κλασική μουσική (klasikí mousikí) — music of the classical period
  • Hindi: शास्त्रीय संगीत (śāstrīya saṅgīt) — music of the classical period
  • Hindi: क्लासिकल म्युज़िक (klāsikal myuzik) — music of the classical period
  • Indonesian: musik klasik — music of the classical period
  • Irish: ceol clasaiceach — music of the classical period
  • Italian: musica classica — music of the classical period
  • Japanese: クラシック音楽 (kurasshiku ongaku) — music of the classical period
  • Japanese: クラシック (kurasshiku) — music of the classical period
  • Japanese: 古典音楽 (koten ongaku) — music of the classical period
  • Kazakh: классикалық музыка (klassikalyq muzyka) — music of the classical period
  • Korean: 고전 음악 (gojeon eumak) — music of the classical period
  • Korean: 클래식 음악 (keullaesik eumak) — music of the classical period
  • Korean: 클래식 (keullaesik) — music of the classical period
  • Kyrgyz: классикалык музыка (klassikalık muzıka) — music of the classical period
  • Latin: mūsica classica — music of the classical period
  • Latvian: klasiskā mūzika — music of the classical period
  • Lithuanian: klasikinė muzika — music of the classical period
  • Macedonian: класицистичка музика (klasicistička muzika) — music of the classical period
  • Macedonian: класична музика (klasična muzika) — music of the classical period
  • Malay: muzik klasik — music of the classical period
  • Malay: muzik klasikal — music of the classical period
  • Manx: ard-chiaull — music of the classical period
  • Māori: puoro ōkawa — music of the classical period
  • Norwegian Bokmål: klassisk musikk — music of the classical period
  • Iranian Persian: موسیقیِ کِلاسیک (musiġi-ye kelâsik) — music of the classical period
  • Polish: muzyka poważna — music of the classical period
  • Polish: muzyka klasyczna — music of the classical period
  • Portuguese: música clássica — music of the classical period
  • Romanian: muzică clasică — music of the classical period
  • Russian: класси́ческая му́зыка (klassíčeskaja múzyka) — music of the classical period
  • Russian: кла́ссика (klássika) — music of the classical period
  • Sardinian: musica classica — music of the classical period
  • Scots: classical muisic — music of the classical period
  • Serbo-Croatian: класична музика — music of the classical period
  • Serbo-Croatian: класична глазба — music of the classical period
  • Serbo-Croatian: klasična muzika — music of the classical period
  • Serbo-Croatian: klasična glasba — music of the classical period
  • Sicilian: mùsica clàssica — music of the classical period
  • Slovak: klasická hudba — music of the classical period
  • Slovene: klasična glasba — music of the classical period
  • Spanish: música clásica — music of the classical period
  • Swahili: muziki wa klasiki — music of the classical period
  • Swedish: klassisk musik — music of the classical period
  • Tagalog: musikang klasiko — music of the classical period
  • Tajik: мусиқии классикӣ (musiqi-yi klassiki) — music of the classical period
  • Thai: ดนตรีคลาสสิก (don-dtrii-kláat-sìk) — music of the classical period
  • Turkish: klasik müzik — music of the classical period
  • Ukrainian: класи́чна му́зика (klasýčna múzyka) — music of the classical period
  • Ukrainian: кла́сика (klásyka) — music of the classical period
  • Urdu: کِلاسِیکی مُوسِیقِی (kilāsīkī mūsīqī) — music of the classical period
  • Uzbek: klassik musiqa — music of the classical period
  • Vietnamese: nhạc cổ điển — music of the classical period
  • Afrikaans: klassieke musiek — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Arabic: مُوسِيقَى كْلَاسِيكِيَّة (mūsīqā klāsikiyya) — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Chinese Mandarin: 古典音樂 /古典音乐 (gǔdiǎn yīnyuè) — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Chinese Mandarin: 古典樂 /古典乐 (gǔdiǎnyuè) — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Danish: klassisk musik — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Dutch: klassieke muziek — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Finnish: klassinen musiikki — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • French: musique classique — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • French: musique savante — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Galician: música clásica — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • German: Klassik — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • German: klassische Musik — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Hungarian: komolyzene — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Hungarian: klasszikus zene — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Ido: klasika muziko — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Italian: musica classica — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Japanese: クラシック音楽 (kurashikku-ongaku) — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Japanese: 古典音楽 (koten-ongaku) — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Kannada: ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರೀಯ ಸಂಗೀತ (śāstrīya saṅgīta) — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Korean: 고전 음악 (gojeon eumak) — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Macedonian: класична музика (klasična muzika) — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Manx: ard-chiaull — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Māori: puoro ōkawa — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Norwegian Bokmål: klassisk musikk — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Polish: muzyka poważna — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Portuguese: música clássica — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Russian: класси́ческая му́зыка (klassíčeskaja múzyka) — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Russian: кла́ссика (klássika) — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Spanish: música clásica — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Swedish: klassisk musik — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Tamil: பழம்பெரும் இசை செவ்விசை (paḻamperum icai cevvicai) — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Vietnamese: nhạc cổ điển — the more serious forms of European and American music
  • Vietnamese: âm nhạc cổ điển — the more serious forms of European and American music