bolero

American  

[buh-lair-oh, boh-] / bəˈlɛər oʊ, boʊ- /

noun

plural

boleros

1. a lively Spanish dance in triple meter.

2. the music for this dance.

3. a jacket ending above or at the waistline, with or without collar, lapel, and sleeves, worn open in front.

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bolero British  

/ bəˈlɛərəʊ /

noun

1. a Spanish dance, often accompanied by the guitar and castanets, usually in triple time

2. a piece of music composed for or in the rhythm of this dance

3. a kind of short jacket not reaching the waist, with or without sleeves and open at the front: worn by men in Spain and by women elsewhere

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Etymology

Origin of bolero

Borrowed into English from Spanish around 1780–90

Explanation

A bolero is a type of quick, lively Spanish dance. It's also a short jacket worn mainly by women. You could dance a bolero in a bolero, because this word refers to both clothes and music. The kind of bolero you wear is a short jacket that just about comes down to the waist. A bolero is most often worn by women: except in Spain, where men wear it too. The dance is a quick-paced type of music that you could do to Ravel's famous piece, also called Bolero. Both the music and the jacket come from Spain.

Example Sentences

Favreau, who joined the BBL at the age of 17, danced his last Bolero in June 2024 in Tokyo, just before taking over the reins of the company, aged 47.

From Barron's • Feb. 25, 2026

In the pairs short program, Georgia's Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava grabbed the top spot over Japan's reigning world champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara with an powerful performance to Ravel's Bolero.

From Barron's • Nov. 15, 2025

He’s the son of Thanh Tuyen, a Vietnamese singer whose trademark Bolero songs were popular during the war.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 19, 2024

Figure skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean have performed an adaptation of their iconic 1984 Bolero performance.

From BBC • Feb. 15, 2024

The theme is not developed but simply grows in volume like Ravel’s Bolero; it is succeeded by a slow melodic passage that suggests a chant for the war's dead.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall