How to Use griot in a Sentence

griot

noun
Definition of griotnext
  • The griots were the ones that told the tribe the story.
    — Belinda Luscombe, Time, 9 Jan. 2020
  • Both the playwright and the actor have a touch of griot in them.
    — Jim Higgins, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 24 Mar. 2021
  • Trio Da Kali plays music of the griots or djelis of Mali.
    — John Adamian, courant.com, 31 Mar. 2018
  • Lucas was a bridge to the past and a griot of the Black community that held a university of knowledge.
    — Darcel Rockett, Chicago Tribune, 22 Aug. 2022
  • That optimism is the Detroit tradition of which the griot sings.
    — Thomas J. Sugrue, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2017
  • There are farmers, too, and twirling griots and dancing, stick-wielding women.
    — David Lyman, Cincinnati.com, 18 Aug. 2017
  • This cook and noted griot was determined to use food as a source of pride and validation for African Americans.
    — Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 14 Dec. 2023
  • Fujiie lives and works with Maboudou Sanou, a griot, and his family in a modest home in a community on the outskirts of Ouagadougou.
    — Clair MacDougall, Quartz, 22 Mar. 2022
  • Reggie Jackson, head griot of the museum, said about the museum's reopening, which is slated to take place this fall.
    — Talis Shelbourne, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 13 Sep. 2019
  • By her grace Zandria Robinson is a shaman, griot, marabout, holy figure in atypical package.
    — Tunde Wey, San Francisco Chronicle, 15 Dec. 2017
  • In West African culture, a griot is a tribal storyteller who acts as an advisor to leaders and serves as a living archive.
    — Time, 20 Nov. 2022
  • That’s particularly true of those who practice the art of the griot — the hereditary caste of bards, instrumentalists and singers.
    — John Adamian, courant.com, 18 June 2018
  • Sory’s work, seen today, seems to beckon across the gulf of time to a past all but lost, a past mired in legends of emirs and mansas and griots, a past that reforms into an ever-evolving and frenetic present.
    — Chris Abani, The New Republic, 19 Apr. 2018
  • Rapping itself can be traced back hundreds of years to the West African tradition of the griot, the oral historians who wrote and performed songs to document in music the past and present of their people.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Dec. 2022
  • Albeit still a proud griot in his own right and product of the hip-hop generation, Bamz today is a new man attempting to forge his legacy in a new world: Hollywood.
    — Marjua Estevez, Billboard, 18 Oct. 2017
  • Yet, through his films, vivid impressions that weave the past and present of Ivory Coast, Lacôte has already risen as a sort of cinematic griot, a modern keeper of his people’s history.
    — Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2021
  • Kilomba, who is of West African descent, describes her role in the film as that of a griot, a storyteller of the African oral tradition, while an ensemble of Black actors dance and mime, silently acting out the tales.
    — New York Times, 8 July 2021
  • Questlove is nothing short of what West Africans call a griot; a lyricist, musician, keeper and an orator of history.
    — Meagan Jordan, Rolling Stone, 21 Oct. 2021
  • Gregory's retelling fits his public role as a griot, preserving and passing on oral traditions.
    — Jim Higgins, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1 Sep. 2017
  • Rapping itself originated hundreds of years ago with the West African tradition of the griot, the oral historians who wrote and performed songs to document in music the past and present of their people.
    — George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Aug. 2023
  • Scenes where Maminata brings Hawa along to weddings and performs in full regalia, singing stories about the host family’s ancestors and blessing their legacies, give a glimpse of the esteemed role and function of a griot at their best.
    — Shamira Ibrahim, The Atlantic, 18 Jan. 2023
  • Lewis is a dismal institution’s griot, a historical actor and hero capable of telling the most complex and painful of American stories—the story of race.
    — David Remnick, The New Yorker, 15 Jan. 2017
  • In West African culture, a griot is a traveling poet, musician, or storyteller who keeps oral tradition alive.
    — Richard Newby, Vulture, 12 Nov. 2022
  • Although the standards for ninth grade world history doesn’t explicitly mentions griots, Ford says the information slips out of her while teaching anyway.
    — al, 1 Mar. 2020
  • These scenes are framed by interjections from a griot, or traditional Black storyteller.
    — Jesse Green, New York Times, 13 Apr. 2021
  • Director Sheri Williams Pannell also served as onstage griot (and occasional sixth singer).
    — Jim Higgins, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 22 June 2021
  • Although Roman has a family connection to the West African griot tradition, his own storytelling talents are rough and unpolished, and all the more affectingly human for it.
    — Justin Chang Film Critic, Los Angeles Times, 26 Feb. 2021
  • Now, imagine that story reinforcing itself from the perspectives of various griots, or chroniclers, or for the sake of this exercise, spinners.
    — Ken Makin, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 June 2023
  • Ivorian artist Siriki Ky’s, Têtes précieuses (Precious heads), sculpted bronze heads piled on a regal red pillow, laments how the continent has forgotten the wisdom from its griots—our own cultural historians.
    — Ciku Kimeria, Quartz Africa, 13 Feb. 2020
  • Plans for the grounds include a kid-friendly exhibit on revolutions against imperialism in Ghana, Haiti, and Algeria, and an elders’ area inspired by African griot tradition.
    — Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, 22 Nov. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'griot.' 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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