flamenco
noun
Did you know?
The Spanish word flamenco means “Flemish,” and its later usage in the sense “Gypsy-like,” especially in reference to a song, dance, and guitar-music style, has inspired a number of hypotheses about why the word flamenco came to be associated with Gypsies; however, all of these theories seem implausible. Perhaps more promisingly, in the later 19th century flamenco also meant “jaunty, cocky” and, in reference to women, “provocatively attractive,” The suggestion has been made that “Gypsylike” is a secondary development from these senses. The ordinary Spanish word for “Gypsy” is gitano, which like the English Gypsy, is altered from a word meaning “Egyptian.”
Examples of flamenco in a Sentence
Literary Hub, 30 Mar. 2026
As previously reported by Billboard, the Lux Tour is Rosalía’s most ambitious production to date, featuring a show structured in four acts that combines elements of opera, flamenco, and techno.
—Franchesca Guim, Billboard, 26 Mar. 2026
With slow songs from the heart and thrashing experiments that deconstruct and glitch flamenco, reggaeton, rap, and breakbeat, the collective has gained a following in Spain’s underground and even rubbed shoulders with its mainstream.
—E.r. Pulgar, Pitchfork, 10 Mar. 2026
My way into dance was through music, particularly the musicality of George Balanchine’s choreography and that of other dance styles like flamenco, where the music and the movement are almost indistinguishable.
—Lauren Kane, The New York Review of Books, 7 Mar. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Flamenco.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flamenco. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
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