Meaning & use
caroler
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Meanings
nouncountable
A person who sings Christmas songs, especially in a group that goes from house to house.
Grammar: Countable: one caroler, a group of carolers.
Patterns
- a group of carolers
- carolers sing something
A group of carolers knocked on our door on Christmas Eve.
The carolers wore scarves and held candles.
We gave the carolers hot chocolate.
nouncountableliterary
Any person who sings songs of joy or praise, especially seasonal songs.
Grammar: Less common than the Christmas sense: carolers at a spring festival.
Patterns
- carolers at something
Carolers at the harvest festival sang old folk songs.
The choir members dressed as carolers for the play.
Street carolers entertained the crowd at the market.
Word forms
| plural | carolers |
|---|---|
| British spelling | caroller |
Common combinations
- a group of carolers
- A group of carolers walked down the street.
- Christmas carolers
- Christmas carolers visited every house in the village.
- carolers sing
- The carolers sing outside the church every year.
- street carolers
- Street carolers collected money for charity.
- door-to-door carolers
- The door-to-door carolers sang three songs.
Synonyms and how they differ
- singer
- Singer is general, but caroler suggests someone singing seasonal songs, usually in a group.
- chorister
- A chorister is a member of a formal choir, while a caroler may be an informal volunteer.
- wassailer
- A wassailer is an old term for someone who sings while visiting houses at midwinter, and it is rare today.
Word family
Commonly confused: caroler or Carol?
caroler vs Carol
Carol with a capital letter is a first name, whereas caroler is a person who sings carols.
Practice
On Christmas Eve a group of ___ went from door to door singing songs.
Choose one answer.
Carolers are people who sing Christmas songs. The other options are real words but have no connection to singing carols.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “caroler”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.