cakewalk

noun

cake·​walk ˈkāk-ˌwȯk 

1

a

: a one-sided contest : an easy victory

In states and localities across America, good times are making for reelection cakewalks.

—Douglas Foster

b

: an easy task

… it's no cakewalk to raise a family on two part-time salaries, even for a little while.

—Belinda Luscombe

2

: an African American entertainment having a cake as prize for the most accomplished steps and figures in walking

3

: a stage dance developed from walking steps and figures typically involving a high prance with backward tilt

cakewalk intransitive verb

cakewalker noun

Synonyms

• breeze
• picnic
• cake

Examples of cakewalk in a Sentence

She expected the election to be a cakewalk.

Reducing the state budget is not going to be a cakewalk.

Recent Examples on the Web

But compared to what the Patriots’ defense endured, that was a cakewalk. —Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 15 Aug. 2025

That doesn’t mean the entirety of the final month will be a cakewalk. —Eric Nehm, New York Times, 15 Aug. 2025

For Fester, getting committed to an insane asylum is a total cakewalk. —Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 6 Aug. 2025

Like all the other regime change wars Washington and its allies have attempted in the region since 9/11, a full-on war with Iran will be far from a cakewalk. —Connor Okeeffe, Oc Register, 20 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1863, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for cakewalk

• aftershock
• antiknock
• arawak
• hollyhock
• interlock
• isopach
• manioc
• shuttlecock
• tomahawk
• weathercock
• alcock
• beanstalk