Standard Lemma guide

payola

noun · 2 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: /peɪˈoʊlə/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /peɪˈəʊlə/
  • rhymes with -əʊlə
  • CMU ARPABET: P EY2 OW1 L AH0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A bribe given in exchange for a favor, such as one given in exchange for the promotion of goods or services (originally one given to a disk jockey to play a record).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Philippines, US, countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a bribe given to a disc jockey to induce him to promote a particular record

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: bribe, payoff

History

Etymology

Perhaps a blend of pay + Victrola, equivalent to pay + -ola.

Across languages

Translations

3 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: lahjus — bribe
  • Polish: payola — bribe
  • Portuguese: jabá — bribe