Synonyms

roots

British

/ ruːts /

adjective

(of popular music) going back to the origins of a style, esp in being genuine and unpretentious

roots rock

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Roots Cultural

(1976) A Pulitzer Prize –winning novel by the African-American author Alex Haley, later made into a popular television drama. It traces a black American man's heritage to Africa, where his ancestors had been captured and sold as slaves.

Other Word Forms

rootsy adjective

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The fungi, known as mycorrhizal, form partnerships with tree roots and act as underground support networks, helping trees access nutrients and water in exchange for carbon.

From BBC

"The Grace and the Leon roots, I think they are going to be very well combined."

From BBC

“Every musician should always try to find the roots to see where all that comes from,” says Moreno of her early musical explorations.

From Los Angeles Times

But as Wall Street charged into the live-events business, venues like the Mirage have become increasingly unmoored from their underground roots, prioritizing expensive events for high-rollers.

From The Wall Street Journal

Thematically, the moment that lands with the most assurance is when B.J. schools his son on his Black American artistic roots.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023