bolero

American  

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

noun

boleros plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• boleros
  plural

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

Thirty-six dancers with raised arms glide slowly forward as they encircle their prey, a lone figure on a red table in a climactic scene from Ravel's "Bolero" choreographed by Maurice Bejart.

From Barron's • Feb. 25, 2026

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

Bolero, which builds from snake-charmer stealth to raging storm, couldn't quite be compressed into the allocated four minute 10 seconds allowed for a musical accompaniment.

From BBC • Feb. 13, 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