maraca
Americannoun
-
maracas
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of maraca
1815–25; < Portuguese < Tupi maráka
Explanation
A maraca is a musical instrument that you shake — the stones or beans rattle against the hollow case in time to the beat of the music. If the violin seems a bit too complicated to learn, try out some maracas! Maracas are percussion instruments commonly used in Latin and Caribbean music. They mark the beat like drums do, and they are fairly simple to play. Most traditional maracas are made out of dried, hollow gourds or coconut shells, and they're filled with dry beans or pebbles. The word maraca comes from the Portuguese, via a Brazilian language called Tupi. In some French-speaking parts of the world, maracas are called "shac-shacs."
Vocabulary lists containing maraca
Music to My Ears: Instrumental Vocab
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The Distance Between Us
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Musical Instruments - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
That’s where he got his maraca work from.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2025
In Indigenous communities from the Amazon to the Caribbean, the shaman’s maraca opens the channel to the spirit realm.
From New York Times ● Sep. 15, 2021
He wore a long headdress of blue macaw feathers and held a maraca.
From Reuters ● Aug. 25, 2021
He slumps to the ground, the tip of his tail forming a frantic maraca.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 30, 2014
The store is under the Number 7 train and rattles like a maraca.
From "Lucky Broken Girl" by Ruth Behar
For “Down on the Corner,” I did the maracas and the middle solo part, then sang all the background vocals, then sang the lead.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2025
Boys in bright shirts play pan pipes, while girls wearing molas shake maracas.
From BBC ● Feb. 7, 2025
The orchestration calls for many instruments not typically heard in opera, including two guitars, high cowbells, chimes, maracas, gongs known as temple bowls and a synthesizer that plays back a wide variety of recorded sound.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 18, 2024
Their music, the shake of maracas punctuated by sharp drumbeats on the llamador and call-and-response chants, is made for dancing, she told the crowd.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 19, 2022
Abuela walks outside shaking two cans of evaporated milk like a pair of maracas.
From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
