How to Use elevator music in a Sentence

elevator music

noun
  • Silence at first, then a few errant words and some elevator music.
    — Susan Page, USA TODAY, 30 May 2023
  • Don’t make elevator music, don’t make a generic country song.
    — Kevin Williams, chicagotribune.com, 13 Apr. 2018
  • These Bulls are here because the soundtrack for this regime’s tenure is elevator music.
    — Joel Lorenzi, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
  • The only open business was, bizarrely, a suitcase store, lights bright and elevator music echoing.
    — Laura Van Den Berg, Harper's BAZAAR, 8 Mar. 2021
  • But there’s something unexplainable as to why their bats make elevator music in front of their loud, faithful fans.
    — Nick Canepa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Feb. 2024
  • But no one wants to wait on hold, listening to elevator music while trying to resolve an issue or process a return.
    — Shama Hyder, Forbes, 17 May 2021
  • Angry white male entitlement is the elevator music of our age.
    — Laurie Penny, Longreads, 12 July 2018
  • As easy listening as elevator music, as undistracting as the glass in your windows.
    — Raven Smith, Vogue, 6 Aug. 2020
  • It’s meant to be kind of lift music [elevator music], effectively.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 17 Nov. 2025
  • Inside, elevator music plays from loudspeakers like a call eternally on hold.
    — Noah Robertson, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 Mar. 2023
  • In the same way that elevator music is meant to be heard, but not listened to, the halo around this fragrance is subtle and soft, to be passively noticed.
    — Shannon Barbour, The Cut, 7 Mar. 2018
  • The walls of the elevators are plastered with old records, records, and 80s tunes replace the usual elevator music.
    — Christopher Elliott, Forbes, 23 Oct. 2021
  • Show up to watch the children, even if one of the kids has a concussion and needs everyone to lie in the dark on the floor in sleeping bags, listening to quiet elevator music.
    — Catherine Newman, Washington Post, 16 Dec. 2022
  • Customers rarely remember the exact response time, unless they were tortured with on-repeat elevator music.
    — Tayfun Bilsel, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
  • The company bought Muzak, known for its elevator music, from bankruptcy in 2011.
    — Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN, 24 Dec. 2019
  • Marcloid has replaced them with the kind of peaceful, harmonious background noise of elevator music or updates on the Weather Channel.
    — Britt Julious, chicagotribune.com, 8 Oct. 2020
  • But compared with the riotous diversity of a rainforest, the columns — like brigades of upright feather dusters — can become as monotonous as elevator music.
    — Patricia Cohen Jes Aznar, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2024
  • On Twitter, Elon Musk recently said that the cars will be able to emit elevator music through external speakers which were designed for pedestrian warning sounds.
    — Dalvin Brown, USA TODAY, 31 July 2020
  • When something is public, whether a movie, a billboard, or elevator music or a Confederate flag on a pickup truck, there can be an openness, an essence of freedom and nakedness to confront or inspire the issue of the day or the past.
    — Prince Shakur, Teen Vogue, 30 Oct. 2017
  • 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
  • Outside of the camera, other new software features include Hold for Me, which has Google Assistant monitor a phone call and send an alert when you've been taken off hold (no need to listen to elevator music again).
    — Julian Chokkattu, Wired, 30 Sep. 2020
  • Matt Kaulig, executive chairman and owner of Kaulig Companies, ensures his office lobby plays techno music as an upbeat alternative to elevator music.
    — Vicki Salemi, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2021
  • But since the first Governor Edwards finished his final term in 1996, voters have opted for something like political elevator music, choosing instead governors that ranged from the technocratic to the mildly boring.
    — Richard Fausset, New York Times, 15 July 2019
  • Ultimately, the quality of subcarrier signals was lower than traditional FM broadcasts, which contributed to Muzak’s elevator music reputation.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 8 June 2021
  • Realists sniff at Jukedeck, Amper and similar AI creations, rightly characterizing the current offerings as customized, affordable 21st century elevator music.
    — James Sammataro, Billboard, 12 Sep. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'elevator music.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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