Synonyms for song

29 synonyms
2 meanings

noun

Most common

lyric ballad chanson poesie

Synonyms by meaning

Noun

1. Call

bird song, call, birdcall rare

2. Ballad

ballad, lyric, poem, anthem informal, melody, hymn, ditty, poetry, verse, vocal, dirge informal, chant, carol, aria, sonnet, epic, lilt, canticle, strain, air, descant, lay

Other

chanson, lied, poesie, canzonet rare

Definitions

n. 1
A musical composition with lyrics for voice or voices, performed by singing.
Thomas listened to his favorite song on the radio yesterday.
n. 2
Any musical composition.

Related words

Word family: songbird songful songless songlike songline songman songsmith songster
Phrases: song and dance siren song theme song cover song song thrush swan song worship song bush song

Forms

Plural: songs → calls, birdcalls, ballads, lyrics…

Choose the right word

Song or Poetry?

There is much in literature that is beautiful and sublime in thought and artistic in construction, which is yet not poetry, because quite devoid of the element of song, whereby poetry differs from the most lofty, beautiful, or impassioned prose.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

lyric What's your favorite song lyric?
ballad Yesterday I listened to a beautiful ballad.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
song		rising
lyric		steady
ballad		falling
chanson		steady
poesie		falling

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: air¹, lay¹
4 letters: call¹, epic², poem², lied¹, hymn¹, aria³, lilt¹
5 letters: verse¹, vocal², carol², lyric², chant¹, ditty², dirge¹
6 letters: poetry³, strain¹, anthem², melody³, ballad², sonnet², poesie
7 letters: chanson², descant
8 letters: canticle, birdcall, canzonet

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (epic² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: chanson
Italiano: canzone
Español: copla
Deutsch: Lied
Català: cançó