ˈzhä(ⁿ)]nrə, ](ə)r, ]ŋrə, ]ŋə(r), ]n, ]ŋ noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: French, from Old French genre, gendre — more at gender
1. : kind , sort , style , species , category
a singer of quite a different genre — Thomas Heinitz
infantrymen without bluster, tall and imperturbable, they share one military genre — A.J.Liebling
large flappy rag dolls, a genre favored by two-year-olds — New Yorker
2. : a category of artistic composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content
a fine introduction to twelve-tone music for those who have had little experience with the genre — Arthur Berger
as
a. : paintings that depict scenes or events from everyday life usually realistically
painters of genre who … paint informal subjects, typical situations in the everyday world — Dorothy Adlow
also : the school or style of painting featured by the use of such subject matter
examples in which romanticism begins to blend with pure genre — R.M.Coates
b. : a distinctive type or category of literary composition
such unpromising genres as Indian treaties, Colonial promotional tracts, and theological works — New Yorker
an essay in that difficult genre , contemporary history — F.C.Barghoorn
the noblest of genres, the epic — George Sherburn
Synonyms: see class