Goth

How to spell goth

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce goth

What does goth mean?

1. nounA member of a subculture known for dark clothing, pale makeup, and a fondness for sombre rock music.
2. adjectiveRelating to the dark, dramatic style of music, fashion, and aesthetics associated with that subculture.

Goth in a sentence

• noun

  As a teenager he was a committed goth, dressed head to toe in black.

• adjective

  The band has a distinctly goth sound, all minor keys and brooding lyrics.

• noun

  Every goth at the club wore heavy eyeliner and silver jewellery.

• adjective

  She decorated the bedroom in a goth palette of black, deep purple, and silver.

Where does goth come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word is a clipped, modern form of 'gothic', which traces back through Latin Gothi to the name of the Goths, a group of Germanic peoples who pushed into the Roman Empire during the early centuries of the common era. For a long time 'gothic' carried the sense of 'medieval', and later 'wild, gloomy, or grotesque', which is why eighteenth-century horror fiction was called gothic. In music journalism of the late 1970s and early 1980s, critics began describing certain dark, atmospheric post-punk bands as 'gothic', and fans of that scene were soon shortened to 'goths'. The modern subcultural meaning, with its black clothing and gloomy aesthetic, dates from around 1983. The spelling is mercifully simple, just four letters, though the silent connection to the much longer 'gothic' is what gives the small word its weight.

How the word is built

• goth (shortened from gothic, ultimately from the name of the Goths, a Germanic people)