VOCALIST

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does vocalist mean? 

• VOCALIST (noun)
  The noun VOCALIST has 1 sense:

1. a person who sings

  Familiarity information: VOCALIST used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• VOCALIST (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person who sings

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

singer; vocaliser; vocalist; vocalizer

Hypernyms ("vocalist" is a kind of...):

instrumentalist; musician; player (someone who plays a musical instrument (as a profession))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "vocalist"):

baritone; barytone (a male singer)

alto (a singer whose voice lies in the alto clef)

yodeller (a singer who changes register rapidly (popular is Swiss folk songs))

warbler (a singer; usually a singer who adds embellishments to the song)

voice ((metonymy) a singer)

torch singer (a singer (usually a woman) who specializes in singing torch songs)

thrush (a woman who sings popular songs)

tenor (an adult male with a tenor voice)

soprano (a female singer)

songster (a person who sings)

rock star (a famous singer of rock music)

rapper (someone who performs rap music)

opera star; operatic star (singer of lead role in an opera)

lieder singer (a singer of lieder)

madrigalist (a singer of madrigals)

bass; basso (an adult male singer with the lowest voice)

canary (a female singer)

caroler; caroller (a singer of carols)

castrato (a male singer who was castrated before puberty and retains a soprano or alto voice)

chorister (a singer in a choir)

contralto (a woman singer having a contralto voice)

balladeer; crooner (a singer of popular ballads)

folk singer; jongleur; minstrel; poet-singer; troubadour (a singer of folk songs)

hummer (a singer who produces a tune without opening the lips or forming words)

Instance hyponyms:

Madonna; Madonna Louise Ciccone (United States pop singer and sex symbol during the 1980s (born in 1958))

Bob Marley; Marley; Robert Nesta Marley (Jamaican singer who popularized reggae (1945-1981))

Dean Martin; Dino Paul Crocetti; Martin (United States singer (1917-1995))

Ethel Merman; Merman (United States singer who appeared in several musical comedies (1909-1984))

Orbison; Roy Orbison (United States composer and rockabilly tenor popular in the 1950s (1936-1988))

Edith Giovanna Gassion; Edith Piaf; Little Sparrow; Piaf (French cabaret singer (1915-1963))

Paul Bustill Robeson; Paul Robeson; Robeson (United States bass singer and an outspoken critic of racism and proponent of socialism (1898-1976))

Lillian Russell; Russell (United States entertainer remembered for her roles in comic operas (1861-1922))

Paul Simon; Simon (United States singer and songwriter (born in 1942))

Bessie Smith; Smith (United States blues singer (1894-1937))

Kate Smith; Kathryn Elizabeth Smith; Smith (United States singer noted for her rendition of patriotic songs (1909-1986))

Barbra Joan Streisand; Barbra Streisand; Streisand (United States singer and actress (born in 1942))

Sarah Vaughan; Vaughan (United States jazz singer noted for her complex bebop phrasing and scat singing (1924-1990))

Ethel Waters; Waters (United States actress and singer (1896-1977))

Hank Williams; Hiram King Williams; Hiram Williams; Williams (United States country singer and songwriter (1923-1953))

Tammy Wynette; Tammy Wynetter Pugh; Wynette (United States country singer (1942-1998))

Huddie Leadbetter; Leadbelly; Ledbetter (United States folk singer and composer (1885-1949))

Harry Lauder; Lauder; Sir Harry MacLennan Lauder (Scottish ballad singer and music hall comedian (1870-1950))

B. B. King; King; Riley B King (United States guitar player and singer of the blues (born in 1925))

Janis Joplin; Joplin (United States singer who died of a drug overdose at the height of her popularity (1943-1970))

Al Jolson; Asa Yoelson; Jolson (United States singer (born in Russia) who appeared in the first full-length talking film (1886-1950))

Jackson; Michael Jackson; Michael Joe Jackson (United States singer who began singing with his four brothers and later became a highly successful star during the 1980s (born in 1958))

Jackson; Mahalia Jackson (United States singer who did much to popularize gospel music (1911-1972))

Iglesias; Julio Iglesias (Spanish singer noted for his ballads and love songs (born in 1943))

Horne; Lena Calhoun Horne; Lena Horne (United States singer and actress (born in 1917))

Garland; Judy Garland (United States singer and film actress (1922-1969))

Ella Fitzgerald; Fitzgerald (United States scat singer (1917-1996))

Bob Dylan; Dylan (United States songwriter noted for his protest songs (born in 1941))

Dietrich; Maria Magdalene von Losch; Marlene Dietrich (United States film actress (born in Germany) who made many films with Josef von Sternberg and later was a successful cabaret star (1901-1992))

Chevalier; Maurice Chevalier (French actor and cabaret singer (1888-1972))

Cash; John Cash; Johnny Cash (United States country music singer and songwriter (1932-2003))

Bailey; Pearl Bailey; Pearl Mae Bailey (United States singer (1918-1990))

Derivation:

vocalism (the sound made by the vibration of vocal folds modified by the resonance of the vocal tract)

 Context examples 

I was no vocalist myself, and, in his fastidious judgment, no musician, either; but I delighted in listening when the performance was good.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)