genre

Word family

• subgenre
  nounC1
• generic
  adjectiveB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Genre' is the most specific of these four words — it refers to established artistic categories with recognized conventions (science fiction, jazz, impressionism). 'Category' is the broadest term and works both inside and outside the arts ('a category of household waste'). 'Type' is more informal and general than 'genre'; you can use it for anything ('a type of sandwich'), but it lacks the art-world precision of 'genre'. 'Style' overlaps with 'genre' but leans toward the manner of execution rather than the category label — two novels can belong to the same genre (mystery) but have very different styles (hard-boiled vs cosy). For example: 'The mystery genre has clear conventions, but Agatha Christie's style is quite different from Raymond Chandler's.'

Common collocations

Etymology

'Genre' entered English in the early 1800s directly from French, where it meant 'kind' or 'sort'. The French word traces back to Latin 'genus' (meaning 'birth, race, kind'). The word was first used in English to describe categories of art and literature, and later extended to music and film. The same Latin root gave English 'gender', 'general', and 'generic'.