flamenco
noun
Did you know?
The Spanish word flamenco means “Flemish,” and its later usage in the sense “Gypsy-like,” especially in reference to a song, dance, and guitar-music style, has inspired a number of hypotheses about why the word flamenco came to be associated with Gypsies; however, all of these theories seem implausible. Perhaps more promisingly, in the later 19th century flamenco also meant “jaunty, cocky” and, in reference to women, “provocatively attractive,” The suggestion has been made that “Gypsylike” is a secondary development from these senses. The ordinary Spanish word for “Gypsy” is gitano, which like the English Gypsy, is altered from a word meaning “Egyptian.”
Examples of flamenco in a Sentence
Jesús Vega, Miami Herald, 24 Nov. 2025
After El Mal Querer (2018) and MOTOMAMI (2022) established her as an avant-garde force in music — someone fusing flamenco with pop, reggaetón, and experimentation — fans and critics alike have come to expect boundary-pushing projects from her.
—Leila Cobo, Billboard, 18 Nov. 2025
For me, that’s very exciting because all those first times are very important for me, for my team, my genre, my city, and flamenco music.
—Lucas Villa, Rolling Stone, 10 Nov. 2025
Early in her career, she was sometimes celebrated for fleeing the strictures of flamenco music in order to find freedom on the dance floor, and on the charts.
—Kelefa Sanneh, New Yorker, 7 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for flamenco
Cite this Entry
“Flamenco.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flamenco. Accessed 29 Nov. 2025.
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