elevator music

noun

: instrumental arrangements of popular songs often piped in (as to an elevator or retail store)

Examples of elevator music in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
These Bulls are here because the soundtrack for this regime’s tenure is elevator music. — Joel Lorenzi, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026 It’s meant to be kind of lift music [elevator music], effectively. — Chris Willman, Variety, 17 Nov. 2025 That audience might be businesses in search of elevator music. — IEEE Spectrum, 8 June 2021 Customers rarely remember the exact response time, unless they were tortured with on-repeat elevator music. — Tayfun Bilsel, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025 The radios by default play calming elevator music, perhaps for the apprehensive. — Alex Golden, Axios, 28 May 2025 The climactic battle feels hasty in the moment, but dragging it out any longer — or worse, having to make everyone recite the usual vampire-killing rules — would have been duller than elevator music. — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2025 With no dialogue, just a few words of on-screen text, the 15-second video set to instrumental elevator music conveyed what thousands of viewers on TikTok have once felt but had not said aloud. — Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Nov. 2025 Those who despise Bacharach’s fluting tunes and David’s simple — if emotive — lyrics, consigning them to often denigrated genres such as easy listening, elevator music, adult contemporary or luxe pop. — Michael Barnes, Austin American Statesman, 8 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1963, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of elevator music was in 1963

Browse Nearby Words

elevator liability insurance
elevator music
elevator shoe
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Elevator music.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/elevator%20music. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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