fandango
/ˌfænˈdæŋ.ɡəʉ̯/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.68 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A form of lively flamenco music and dance that has many regional variations (e.g. fandango de Huelva), some of which have their own names (e.g. malagueña, granadina).
Countable; Uncountable
noun
An extravaganza; an instance of lavish and fantastical events or behavior.
Countable; Uncountable
verb
To dance the fandango.
Example Sentences
- "The soldiers were oftener gambling and dancing beneath the walls than keeping watch upon the battlements, and nothing was heard from morning till night but the noisy contests of cards and dice, mingled with the sound of the bolero or fandango, the drowsy strumming of the guitar, and the rattling of the castanets, while often the whole was interrupted by the loud brawl and fierce and bloody contest."
- "[…] sweet to us it is to behold delightful dancing, be it the stately splendour of the Pavane which progresseth as large clouds at sun-down that pass by in splendour; or the graceful Allemande; or the Fandango, which goeth by degrees from languorous beauty to the swiftness and passion of Bacchanals dancing on the high lawns under a summer moon that hangeth in the pine trees; or the joyous maze of the Galliard; or the Gigue, dear to the Foliots."
- "We skipped the light fandango / Turned cartwheels 'cross the floor"
- "I see a little silhouetto of a man / Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the fandango?"
- "I'm wearing a Spanish skirt so what's wrong with dancing a fandango."
- "When Auguste Fretéllière and the painter Theodore Gentilz attended a fandango in the 1840s, the festivities took place near Military Plaza."
Etymology
Borrowed from Spanish fandango, of uncertain origin. Possibly related to Portuguese fado, or of West African origin.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌfænˈdæŋ.ɡəʉ̯/
- British English: /ˌfænˈdæŋ.ɡəʊ̯/