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
Nicole Winfield, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2026
Leo celebrated Spain's Christian roots and culture with the huge morning Mass in downtown Madrid and an evening spectacle that featured flamenco dancers, classical guitar and a moving meditation by Spanish actor Antonio Banderas on art, faith and beauty.
—ABC News, 7 June 2026
Shimabukuro, from Hawaii, will be performing his music that mixes jazz, blues, funk, rock, bluegrass, classical, folk and flamenco.
—Carlos Rico, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 June 2026
Georgian kids fly through the air and onto their knees in Gravesend, Brooklyn, and women study flamenco zapateado in Queens.
—Marina Harss, New Yorker, 3 June 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Flamenco.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flamenco. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.
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