VocabauraVOCABAURA

dance

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A sequence of rhythmic steps or movements usually performed to music.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

dans
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

dæns

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A sequence of rhythmic steps or movements usually performed to music, for pleasure or as a form of social interaction.

  2. A party for social dancing

  3. A social gathering where dancing is the main activity.

  4. uncountable

    The art, profession, and study of dancing.

  5. uncountable

    A genre of modern music characterised by sampled beats, repetitive rhythms and few lyrics.

  6. figurative

    A battle of wits, especially one commonly fought between two rivals.

verb

  1. Move in a pattern; usually to musical accompaniment; do or perform a dance

  2. intransitive

    To move with rhythmic steps or movements, especially in time to music.

  3. Skip, leap, or move up and down or sideways

  4. intransitive

    To leap or move lightly and rapidly.

  5. transitive

    To perform the steps to.

  6. transitive

    To cause to dance, or move nimbly or merrily about.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A sequence of rhythmic steps or movements usually performed to music, for pleasure or as a form of social interaction.

Used this way, dance is a reasonably familiar word with a mildly favourable edge. This is a musical use: it is everyday language among musicians and listeners, and specialised outside that.

Emotional tone
Slightly positive
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Moderate
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Positive and appreciative
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Where it naturally appears

  • Music/performance
  • Arts writing

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use dance

  • “The young girl danced into the room.”verb

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “dance”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

dance floordance musicdance hallsun danceghost dancefolk dance

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • dancernounInflected form

    A performer who dances professionally.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • dance floornounCompound term

    A bare floor polished for dancing.

  • dance hallnounCompound term

    Large room used mainly for dancing.

  • dance lessonnounCompound term

    A lesson in dancing.

  • dance masternounCompound term

    A professional teacher of dancing.

  • dance musicnounCompound term

    A genre of popular music composed for ballroom dancing.

  • dance of deathnounCompound term

    A medieval dance in which a skeleton representing death leads a procession of others to the grave.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

Use This Word

See how this word sounds in a real sentence.

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Knowing “dance” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.