In the late 1950s and early '60s, songwriters like the classically-trained Antonio Carlos "Tom" Jobim and the soft-voiced guitarist João Gilberto created a smoother, jazz-influenced version of the Samba - which itself was a product of the nation's poorer classes. Middle-class Brazilians preferred the newer sound, which was dubbed Bossa Nova, or "The New Way." Bossa Nova is velvet sophistication atop a feathery five-against-four rhythm, and is most famously epitomized by Gilberto's "Girl from Ipanema." American jazzmen like Stan Getz - who went on to collaborate frequently with Gilberto and Herbie Mann visited Brazil and brought the Bossa Nova to international attention. Some commercial distortion followed, but Bossa Nova continues to influence modern Brazilian pop and other regional styles today.

Bossa Nova: Antonio Carlos Jobim Aka Tom Jobim, Astrud Gilberto, Bebel Gilberto, Baden Powell, Eliane Elias, Elis Regina, João Gilberto, Nara Leão, Sérgio Mendes, Stan Getz, Maria Rita, Sitti Navarro, Rosalia De Souza, Celso Fonseca, Luiz Bonfá, Carlos Lyra, Tamba Trio, Gal Costa, Seu Jorge, Vinicius de Moraes.

Bossa Nova by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ September 17, 2010

Related Words

Bossanova • BossAss • bossage • Bossaru • bossa hova • bossab • bossability • Bossacation • Bossace • bossacious

Bossa Nova

Type of music that was invented by Tom Jobim in Brasil.

Imagine lying on the beach under a palm tree in Rio with your eyes closed and your feet stucking in the warm sand while you feel the warm sun on your skin, ocaisinaly sipping on your cold mojito while listening to smooth guitar music and the soft voice of a woman grieving about life.

This is bossa nova.

Bossa Nova

Mira que cosa mas linda, mas llena de gracia
Es esa muchacha, que viene y que pasa
Con su balanceo, camino del mar
Niña de cuerpo dorado, del sol de Ipanema
Con su balanceo, es todo un poema
La chica mas linda que he visto pasar

- La garota de ipanema ( Tom Jobim) , spanish version

Bossa Nova by Reila November 26, 2018

Bossa Nova

A latin style of music, mostly emphasizing the drums. I have uploaded a short sample of drums and bass.

That slinky bossa nova had a real cool feel to it.

Bossa Nova by Ben Roberts May 14, 2005

bossa nova

cool, sly, sharp, enticing, mysterious. also heard in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the movie

"Bossa Nova!"
"..."
"Chevy Nova?"
"..."
"hmm...EXELLENT!!"
"YEA!!"

bossa nova by bert_fegg June 3, 2004

BOSSA NOVA

To be cool or hip. From The Ninja Turtles.

That car is Bossa Nova

Bill: Check out this cool picture
Frank: That's Bossa Nova, man!

BOSSA NOVA by Symphonicrock002 June 13, 2007

bossa hova

The genre combining the spirit of the African diaspora in Brazil and America, particularly Rio and the East Coast, where you bounce between old school hustler lessons from Jay-Z and Racionais MC’s and older-school soothing Tom Jobim bangers.

Populist presi’s and looming elections had be down, so I decided to bumped some Bossa HOVA and immediately started hustling my way out of worldly malaise

bossa hova by CSmoothWithTheWristBoy November 2, 2018

Whale

In sales terms, a whale is a prospect that is significantly larger than an organization’s average customer.

Whales are large and extremely difficult to close. Due to their immense size, they are highly sought-after.

A whale is typically identified at first by a whale hunter on the sales team, but often requires cross-discipline participation in order to close; this includes assistance from operations, engineering, creative, client success, and business development teams.

"Shit...the sales director chewed me out on the sales call this morning. He's totally pissed that I have nothing in my pipeline. I've been focused on this one whale for so long that I haven't had time to prospect for normal-sized deals."

Whale by FQ_GFY February 3, 2020

Word of the Day on September 21, 2026

Concrete cowboy

A guy who thinks he's a country kinda guy, but in reality lives a comfortable city / suburban life.

Eugene: Look at that dude in the cowboy hat!
Todd: He's just a concrete cowboy.

Concrete cowboy by EugeneJohnson42000 March 16, 2024

Word of the Day on September 20, 2026

hobo loko

any hard liquor that is cheap & potent.. eg. relska, popov, potters, evan williams, kamchatka, fireball, rumpleminze, southern comfort, everclear

hey let's get a drink of that?

go ahead
*takes drink* ugh wtf is that?

everclear & bepsi
fucking hobo loko eeessshh

hobo loko by d i z k o 2 0 8 September 14, 2026

Word of the Day on September 19, 2026

God Shot

A chance happening with profound meaning, an unexpected blessing, a "sign".

Dr. Drew on Celebrity Rehab said "All of a sudden what had been just another Hollywood proposal became for him an unexpected blessing, an opportunity for growth. In drug recovery language, that's called a "God shot."

God Shot by Imogen1564 February 25, 2011

Word of the Day on September 18, 2026

city chicken

A food native to Pittsburgh/Western Pennsylvania in which cubes of pork and/or veal are put on a short, wooden skewer, breaded, then baked and/or fried.

I've heard that city chicken originated during the Great Depression, when folks didn't have enough money to buy full cuts of meat, so they assembled meat scraps on a wooden skewer, creating a make-shift drumstick. Hence the name.

Are yinz havin' city chicken for dinner?

city chicken by TRF August 31, 2006

Word of the Day on September 17, 2026

Is that cake?

Another way to say is this fake? Like the show real or cake

“Slayyyter just announced another album last night”
“No way, is that cake?”
“Yeah whoops this isn’t real”

Is that cake? by Sexyyred September 15, 2026

Word of the Day on September 16, 2026