El Dorado

noun

El Do·​ra·​do ˌel-də-ˈrä-(ˌ)dō 

-ˈrā-

1

: a city or country of fabulous riches held by 16th century explorers to exist in South America

2

: a place of fabulous wealth or opportunity

Did you know?

In the early 1500s, Spanish conquistadores heard tales of an Amazonian king who regularly coated his body with gold dust, then plunged into a nearby lake to wash it off while being showered with gold and jewels thrown by his subjects. The Spaniards called the city ruled by this flamboyant monarch El Dorado, Spanish for "gilded one," and the story of the gold-covered king eventually grew into a legend of a whole country paved with gold. These days, El Dorado can also used generically for any place of vast riches, abundance, or opportunity. It is also the name of actual cities in Arkansas and Kansas.

Examples of El Dorado in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Several Northern California counties — including Placer, Yolo, Sutter and El Dorado — are now 100% abnormally dry. — Angela Rodriguez, Sacbee.com, 31 July 2026

The company that focuses on utility-scale solar and battery energy storage projects primarily in California, Arizona and Nevada relocated from offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and El Dorado Hills to San Diego last year. — Rob Nikolewski, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 July 2026

Other counties with rates below 95% are Calaveras, Del Norte, El Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Kern, Nevada, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Sutter, Trinity and Tuolumne. — Los Angeles Times, 24 July 2026

In the finals of the tug-of-war, Mission Viejo defeated El Dorado. — Dan Albano, Oc Register, 19 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

Spanish, literally, the gilded one

First Known Use

1596, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for El Dorado

• avocado
• desperado
• adelantado
• bravado
• machado
• mikado
• incommunicado

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