nonlyrical

Nonlyrical is an adjective used to describe music, audio tracks, or performances that do not include lyrics. A nonlyrical work emphasizes elements such as melody, harmony, rhythm, texture, or timbre rather than sung or spoken words. The term is commonly used in music criticism, cataloging, and metadata to distinguish these works from vocal or lyrically centered material.

Origin and usage: formed from non- (not) + lyrical (relating to lyrics). While closely related to instrumental music, nonlyrical specifically highlights the absence of lyrics rather than the absence of voice entirely. Some nonlyrical works may include non-lexical vocal sounds or wordless singing, but they do not convey words with specific semantic content. The term is applied across genres, including ambient, electronic, instrumental rock, contemporary classical, and experimental music, as well as film scores and video game soundtracks.

Relationship to other terms: synonyms include instrumental, wordless, or non-vocal; however instrumental usually implies a focus on instruments and may exclude all vocalizations, while nonlyrical centers on the absence of lyrics. In practice, the labels can be fluid and context-dependent. See also: instrumental music, wordless vocal, ambient music. Not a formal linguistic category, but a descriptive descriptor used in reviews and metadata.