El Dorado
noun
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
Ca Wildfire Bot, Sacbee.com, 11 June 2025
The attack was carried out amid a heavy police presence and just minutes away from El Dorado International Airport.
—Alfie Pannell, Miami Herald, 8 June 2025
In her new novel, El Dorado Drive (G.P. Putnam, June 24, 2025), a feeling of loss and decline permeates the once prosperous community of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, the author’s own hometown.
—Dwyer Murphy
june 6, Literary Hub, 6 June 2025
The other counties involved in the pilot included El Dorado, Fresno, Imperial, Monterey, San Bernardino and Shasta counties.
—Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 5 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for El Dorado
Cite this Entry
“El Dorado.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/El%20Dorado. Accessed 17 Jun. 2025.
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