DJ

The word “DJ” means a disc jockey — someone who plays, mixes, and introduces recorded music, especially at clubs, parties, or on the radio. In plain terms, someone who plays and mixes music for an audience, or the act of doing that job.

“DJ” is pronounced DEED-zhay (/ˈdi(ː)(.)d͡ʒeɪ/ in IPA).

Here is “DJ” used in a sentence: “The wedding DJ kept the dance floor packed all night.”

Depending on how it is used, “DJ” can be a noun and a verb.

“DJ” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.

“DJ” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a disc jockey — someone who plays, mixes, and introduces recorded music, especially at clubs, parties, or on the radio.

A DJ selects, mixes, and plays existing recorded music for a live or radio audience, while a producer creates and records original tracks in the studio. Many artists do both, but the roles are distinct: DJing is about performance and song selection, whereas producing is about composition and sound design.

A DJ plays and mixes recorded music, while an MC (master of ceremonies) hosts the event and speaks or raps over the music to engage the crowd. At many parties and clubs the two roles work side by side.

As a verb, DJ means to play and mix recorded music for an audience, as in "she DJs at a club on weekends." Common inflected forms are DJing and DJed (sometimes written DJ'd), and the spelled-out form "deejay" is also accepted.

DJ is conventionally written in capital letters because it is an abbreviation of "disc jockey." The lowercase spelling "deejay" exists as an informal alternative, but the two-letter capitalised form is by far the most common.