Karaoke is singing along to recorded music with the singer's voice taken out, and its Japanese name means “empty orchestra”.
What Does Karaoke Mean?
Karaoke is a kind of entertainment where you sing along to a recorded song. The song plays without the original singer, and the words often appear on a screen so you can follow them.
The class held a karaoke party on the last day of school.
Grandma sang her favourite song on the karaoke machine.
You do not need to be a good singer. That is part of the fun.
🔊 Pronunciation
kar-ee-OH-kee
The stress is on the third part: OH. The start sounds like carry, and the end rhymes with key.
🗣️ Natural Examples
We chose a karaoke song that everyone knew.
My cousin has a karaoke machine with a pink microphone.
There is a karaoke night at the school fair.
Dad sings karaoke in the car, very loudly.
The twins did karaoke and sang the wrong words with great confidence.
🛠️ How to Use It
- Karaoke is usually uncountable: We did karaoke. You do not normally say two karaokes.
- You sing karaoke or do karaoke.
- It often acts like an adjective before another noun: a karaoke machine, a karaoke night.
- It is a friendly, everyday word. Most people say it with a smile.
🤝 Common Word Partners
- a karaoke machine
- a karaoke night
- a karaoke party
- a karaoke song
- a karaoke contest
- sing karaoke
- do karaoke
👯 Similar and Related Words
- Sing-along: a group sings together, with or without a recording. Karaoke is a sing-along with the original singer removed.
- A cappella: the opposite idea. In a cappella singing there are voices and no instruments. In karaoke there is music and no lead singer.
- Choir: a group that sings together. See choir for a word with an odd spelling.
- Backing track: the music without the main voice, which is what a karaoke machine plays.
- Cacophony: a messy mix of loud sounds. A karaoke night can sometimes be one.
⚠️ Common Mistakes
Spell it with an a, an o and an e.
❌ karioke, caraoke
✅ karaoke
Stress the OH.
❌ KAR-ee-oh-kee
✅ kar-ee-OH-kee
Karaoke is not a person or an instrument.
❌ Sam is a karaoke.
✅ Sam is singing karaoke.
💬 In a Conversation
Sam: Why is it called karaoke?
Mia: It means "empty orchestra" in Japanese.
Sam: Empty? There are fifty people in the room.
Mia: The empty part is the orchestra, not the room.
Sam: So I am the missing singer?
Mia: You are the missing singer. Take the microphone.
🕵️ Where Does It Come From?
Karaoke is a Japanese word, and it dates from 1979. It is made of two parts:
- kara means "empty".
- oke is short for okesutora, which is the Japanese way of saying the English word orchestra.
Put them together, and you get "empty orchestra": music is playing, but nobody live is singing, so the singer fills the empty space.
That means karaoke is a round trip. The English word orchestra travelled to Japan, was shortened to oke, joined with kara, and came back to English as karaoke.
And orchestra itself came from Greek orkhēstra, the space in an ancient theatre where a chorus of dancers performed. Its CH says K, just like the CH in chaos.
Kara also appears in karate, where it joins te, which means "hand". Karate is "empty hand": a sport with no weapons.
💡 The OddLingo Trick
Break the word in two: kara + oke.
Kara means empty, as in the empty hand of karate. Oke is a squashed orchestra.
Empty orchestra: the band is a recording, and you step in as the singer.