Meaning & use
bop
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Meanings
nouncountableslang
An especially catchy, enjoyable song, often one people want to replay.
Grammar: Countable and very informal; in formal writing use song, track, or hit instead.
Patterns
- a catchy bop
- that song is a bop
- new bop
Their new single is such a bop that I replayed it all morning.
The playlist starts with a nostalgic 2000s bop.
Everyone at the party shouted when the DJ played that bop.
verbintransitiveinformal
To dance, bounce, or move rhythmically and casually to music.
Grammar: No object; often followed by along, around, or to: bop to the beat.
Patterns
- bop along
- bop to something
- bop around
Kids bopped along to the parade drumline.
She bopped around the kitchen while the cake baked.
We bopped to the band outside the café.
Word forms
| third person singular | bops |
|---|---|
| past tense | bopped |
| past participle | bopped |
| -ing form | bopping |
| plural | bops |
Common combinations
- catchy bop
- The chorus is a catchy bop with a simple hook.
- summer bop
- The commercial used a bright summer bop.
- replay a bop
- I replay that bop whenever I need energy.
- bop to the beat
- Even shy guests began to bop to the beat.
Synonyms and how they differ
- banger
- Banger also means an energetic hit song, but it is strongly tied to club, rap, or British slang contexts; bop is broader online praise.
- jam
- Jam can praise a fun song, but it has many unrelated meanings, so context matters more than with bop.
- tune
- Tune is neutral and can be any melody; bop specifically signals an upbeat song someone enjoys.
Commonly confused: bop or pop? bop or bob?
bop vs pop
Pop is a genre and a sound, while a bop is any catchy enjoyable song across styles.
bop vs bob
Bob means a quick up-down movement, a short haircut, or a name; bop adds rhythmic dancing or slang praise.
Practice
In very informal slang, choose the best word: That new single is such a ___—I keep replaying it.
Choose one answer.
A bop is an enjoyable catchy song in slang. Culvert is a drainage structure, county is an area, and courteous is an adjective meaning polite.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bop”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.