flamenco
noun
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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
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
Montilla only publicly admitted to killing his neighbor in 1985; the other three victims were visitors from Germany and England, and a former driver of flamenco singer Juanito Valderrama.
—Samantha Bergeson, Time, 6 Mar. 2026
The all-analog recording, pressed in flamenco-red 180-gram vinyl, was mastered and produced by Impex Records, whose LPs have achieved collector status among jazz connoisseurs.
—Robert Ross, Robb Report, 22 Feb. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Flamenco.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flamenco. Accessed 19 Mar. 2026.
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