cabaret

noun

cab·​a·​ret ˌka-bə-ˈrā 

ˈka-bə-ˌrā

1

archaic : a shop selling wines and liquors

2

a

: a restaurant serving liquor and providing entertainment (as by singers or dancers) : nightclub

b

: the show provided at a cabaret

Synonyms of cabaret

• nightclub
• club

Examples of cabaret in a Sentence

a singing superstar who got her start singing in the cabarets of New York City

Recent Examples on the Web

Each show features two stand-ups performing on a small stage in the middle of the Playhouse on Park performance area, surrounded by cabaret-style tables and chairs. — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 3 Nov. 2026

As a cabaret musician who entertains the troops, Penélope Cruz is a wickedly brassy marvel—vamping up a storm one minute, grumbling about her menstrual cycle the next, and eventually coaxing even Sebastián out of his mopey shell. — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2026

Sommer, who several albums as a cabaret singer, increasingly worked in Europe though the ’70s, including the 1979 comedy The Prisoner of Zenda with her old Panther co-star Sellers. — Greg Evans, Deadline, 29 Oct. 2026

And the theater where Penélope Cruz’s Nené performs cabaret for the Nationalist troops was a dilapidated cinema that had been closed since the 1950s. — Elaina Patton, Vogue, 25 Oct. 2026

Word History

Etymology

French, from Middle French dialect (Picard or Walloon), from Middle Dutch, alteration of cambret, cameret, from Middle French dialect (Picard) camberete small room, ultimately from Late Latin camera — more at chamber

First Known Use

1655, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for cabaret

• aaa
• alleyway
• alumnae
• anime
• anyway
• arete
• attache
• axillae
• baa
• beaujolais
• bouvier
• breakaway

Kids Definition

cabaret

noun

cab·​a·​ret ˌkab-ə-ˈrā 

ˈkab-ə-ˌrā

: nightclub