Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One, such as a studio or producer, that is unaffiliated with a larger or more commercial organization.
  • noun An artistic work produced by an independent company or group.
  • adjective Of, relating to, or being an indie.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective any form of popular culture (such as pop music from a group not signed to a major label) from outside the mainstream
  • adjective a type of rock music, generally soft-style without screaming or aggression, mixed with synthesized music and electronic.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective (of pop groups) not affiliated with a major recording company
  • noun a pop group not affiliated with a major record company
  • noun an independent film company not associated with an established studio

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[ind(ependent) + –y.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From independent, by shortening

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word indie.

Examples

  • There's folky indie, there's metaly indie, dancey indie, there's indie-schmindie, jingly-jangly bumhead indie, punky-indie, singer-songwritery indie* ... and even those descriptions are inherantly lacking in proper decriptive terms.

    Word Magazine - 2008

  • Today, the reasons for DIY publishing I resist the term "indie," for independent publishers are not the same as self-publishers are myriad.

    Red Room: Sherry Jones: Self-Publishing: The Elephant in the Room Red Room 2011

  • Though as Richard Nash suggests, we're all indie now (except the big guys), so even the term indie doesn't mean much:

    Hugh McGuire: Why "Self-Publishing" Is Meaningless 2009

  • The term indie rock, like the word "blog," is too cozy for comfort.

    Left Behind: Black Music by White Musicians 2007

  • A peek at the back lot for "Cloud Atlas" testifies to the need for a budget that defies the term "indie."

    NYT > Home Page By NICHOLAS KULISH 2011

  • A peek at the back lot for "Cloud Atlas" testifies to the need for a budget that defies the term "indie."

    NYT > Global Home By NICHOLAS KULISH 2011

  • A peek at the back lot for "Cloud Atlas" testifies to the need for a budget that defies the term "indie."

    NYT > Home Page By NICHOLAS KULISH 2011

  • The style they favor is what they call indie rock, an apt enough designation for the sweet, moody songs they perform together, which would not sound out of place on the soundtrack of a movie at the Sundance Film Festival.

    NYT > Home Page By A. O. SCOTT 2010

  • Anyway, I guess that just goes to show that the question of "indie" is universal through all modern artistic mediums.

    Video Game Hipsters SVGL 2009

  • According to Wikipedia, the term "indie" is generally defined as being "independent from mainstream" - a subculture of non-conformity, avant-garde (novels/experimental), and not a small amount of elitism.

    June 27th, 2006 fantasyecho 2006

  • Romance is the bestselling of all book genres – a nearly $1.5bn market, as of 2021 – with self-published, or “indie”, romance a particularly booming industry.

    A romance novelist came back to life. Angry fans say she faked her death J Oliver Conroy 2023

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.