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

Three people were injured Saturday afternoon after a crash on Green Valley Road in El Dorado Hills, fire authorities said. — Corey Schmidt, Sacbee.com, 19 July 2026

The incident occurred on Monday, July 13, at the El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, Colombia, according to local news outlets El País Cali, El Colombiano and El Tiempo. — Colson Thayer, PEOPLE, 15 July 2026

In 1963 Donna Axum of El Dorado won the crown and went on to Atlantic City to be crowned Miss America in 1964. — Arkansas Online, 14 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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