Meaning & use
deejay
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Meanings
nouncountableinformal
A person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience, at a party, club or on radio.
Grammar: An alternative spelling of DJ; plural deejays.
Patterns
- the deejay at something
- a deejay on the radio
The deejay kept the dance floor full until midnight.
A local deejay hosts the morning show on the station.
We hired a deejay for the wedding party.
nouncountablemusic
A person who mixes and blends tracks with turntables or software to create new sounds, as in electronic music.
Grammar: Often a performer in their own right, as in a headline deejay.
Patterns
- a famous deejay
- a deejay set
The deejay layered two songs into a seamless track.
She became a famous deejay by posting her mixes online.
The festival's headline deejay played for two hours.
verbintransitiveinformal
To play recorded music as a deejay.
Grammar: No object: he deejays at weekends.
Patterns
- deejay at something
He deejays at a bar downtown on Saturdays.
She deejayed at her friend's birthday party.
They started deejaying while still in school.
Word forms
| plural | deejays |
|---|---|
| third person singular | deejays |
| past tense | deejayed |
| -ing form | deejaying |
Common combinations
- club deejay
- A club deejay spun records until dawn.
- radio deejay
- The radio deejay introduced the next song.
- hire a deejay
- We decided to hire a deejay for the reunion.
- guest deejay
- The guest deejay brought rare vinyl.
- wedding deejay
- The wedding deejay took requests all night.
Synonyms and how they differ
- DJ
- DJ is the usual short form and is far more common in writing than deejay.
- disc jockey
- Disc jockey is the full, slightly older term, often for radio presenters.
- presenter
- A presenter hosts a show and may not play or mix music at all.
- selector
- Selector is used in reggae and dancehall culture for the person who chooses and plays the records.
Word family
- deejaying noun
- the activity of working as a deejay
- DJ noun
- the abbreviation for disc jockey
- disc jockey noun
- the full term for a music presenter
Commonly confused: deejay or dejay? deejay or deja vu?
deejay vs dejay
Dejay is a misspelling; the correct forms are deejay and DJ.
deejay vs deja vu
Deja vu is the strange feeling of having lived a moment before; it is not a job.
Practice
The radio ___ played a request for the birthday girl and read out a few messages.
Choose one answer.
A deejay plays music on radio and speaks between songs. The other jobs do not involve playing music.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “deejay”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.