Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

cakewalk

/ˈkeɪk.wɔk/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.47 in modern English

Syllables
cake-walk
IPA
/ˈkeɪk.wɔk/
21
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A contest in which cake was offered for the best dancers.

noun

The style of music associated with such a contest.

noun

The dance, or strutting style of dance, associated with such a contest.

noun

Something that is easy or simple, or that does not present a great challenge.

Informal

verb

To perform the cakewalk dance.

Intransitive verb

Example Sentences

Etymology

From cake + walk. Originally an African-American form of dance and music that developed after the Civil War, later popularised by minstrel shows. It was danced at social events, with the best dancers often receiving cake as a prize. It derives from dance competitions by plantation slaves in which the style of dance lampooned the ballroom dances of the slaveowners. Slaveowners seem to have found the competitions entertaining and the habit of offering cake may originate from this period. The name is sometimes also applied to the dance's precursor on the plantations. Doing the cakewalk well required virtuosity, and a major aesthetic aspect of that virtuosity was the apparent ease with which the dance was performed. This gave rise to the idiom as easy as a cakewalk, which in turn led to the sense of cakewalk as something that is easy. See the linked Wikipedia article for more.

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈkeɪk.wɔk/

Usage

Subject

Wiktionary places this term in Music.

Inflected Forms

cakewalks (plural) cakewalks (present, singular) cakewalking (participle, present) cakewalked (participle, past) cakewalked (past)

Synonyms

bagatelle waltz breeze cake and gingerbread cakewalk child's play cinch doddle doss duck soup easy pickings gimme

Questions

How do you pronounce cakewalk?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈkeɪk.wɔk/.
What does cakewalk mean?
A contest in which cake was offered for the best dancers.
Where does cakewalk come from?
From cake + walk. Originally an African-American form of dance and music that developed after the Civil War, later popularised by minstrel shows. It was danced at social events, with the best dancers often receiving cake as a prize. It derives from dance competitions by plantation slaves in which the style of dance lampooned the ballroom dances of the slaveowners. Slaveowners seem to have found the competitions entertaining and the habit of offering cake may originate from this period. The name is sometimes also applied to the dance's precursor on the plantations. Doing the cakewalk well required virtuosity, and a major aesthetic aspect of that virtuosity was the apparent ease with which the dance was performed. This gave rise to the idiom as easy as a cakewalk, which in turn led to the sense of cakewalk as something that is easy. See the linked Wikipedia article for more.

How to pronounce cakewalk

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “cakewalk”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈkeɪk.wɔk/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “cakewalk”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “cakewalk” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.