Meaning & use
ditty
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A short, simple song or poem, often light and easy to remember.
Grammar: Countable: a ditty, two ditties. Often used with 'little' or 'silly'.
Patterns
- a little ditty
- a catchy ditty
- sing a ditty
She hummed a cheerful ditty while washing the dishes.
The children learned a simple ditty about the alphabet.
He wrote a funny ditty for his friend's birthday.
Word forms
| plural | ditties |
|---|
Common combinations
- a little ditty
- He played a little ditty on the piano.
- a catchy ditty
- That advertising jingle is a catchy ditty.
- sing a ditty
- The soldiers sang a marching ditty.
- a folk ditty
- The album includes a traditional folk ditty.
Synonyms and how they differ
Commonly confused: ditty or dirty?
ditty vs dirty
Dirty means 'not clean'; ditty is a short song. They sound similar but have different meanings and spellings.
Practice
The children sang a cheerful ______ about animals.
Choose one answer.
'Ditty' is a short, simple song, which fits the context of children singing. 'Duty' means a responsibility, 'deity' means a god, and 'ditto' means 'the same'—none fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ditty”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.