ballerina

American  

[bal-uh-ree-nuh] / ˌbæl əˈri nə /

noun

• ballerinas
  plural

1. a principal female dancer in a ballet company.

2. any female ballet dancer.

3. a woman's very low-heeled or heelless shoe or slipper, made to resemble a ballet slipper.

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ballerina British  

/ ˌbæləˈriːnə /

noun

1. a female ballet dancer

2. the principal female dancer of a ballet company

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ballerina Cultural  

1. In ballet, a female dancer. (See prima ballerina.)

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• ballerinas
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of ballerina

1785–95; < Italian, feminine of ballerino professional dancer, probably equivalent to baller ( ia ) dance ( ball ( are ) to dance (< Late Latin; see ball ²) + -eria < Old French; see -ery) + -ino -ine ¹

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Explanation

A girl or woman who dances professionally with a ballet is a ballerina. The lead dancer in "The Nutcracker" is a ballerina. It's more common to call a female dancer a "ballet dancer" than a ballerina these days. Historically, the term ballerina was saved for the very best female solo dancers in a ballet company, similar to the word diva in opera. In French, you call a female dancer a danseuse, and while the word ballerina means "dancing girl" in Italian, it's more accepted to use the word danzatrice in Italy.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ballerina ballerinas

A trained ballerina, Bardot helped popularise the Repetto brand after asking the company to make her a version for everyday use.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

The ballerina collaboration, Reichert said, would be part of the company’s efforts to hold consumers’ attention with new shoes and sandals in the years ahead.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

One ballerina selected from her stash a leotard whose gray velour later read as metallic silver under the studio lights during her grand adagio.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

Today, she is the world’s oldest ballerina still taking on demanding lead roles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

First she drew a silhouette of the old man and then his wife with her basket on her head, perched over him like a ballerina, unaware of her load.

From "Krik? Krak!" by Edwidge Danticat

“Many of them have been stretched into new silhouettes of the Samba, for example, into both ballerinas, into mules, into Mary Janes.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

Arguably most prominent was her role as the central of five ballerinas in “Divertimento No. 15,” Balanchine’s Mozart-inspired confection from 1956, where she displayed gyroscopic turns and air-filled, feathery footwork.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026

When their bus breaks down on the way to a showcase, a troupe of ballerinas led by “Dance Moms” alum and one-time Sia protégée Maddie Ziegler becomes stranded in a remote hotel-bar-dungeon-arms factory outside Budapest.

From Salon ● Mar. 29, 2026

But Giorgos Mavrogordatos, emeritus professor at the University of Athens criticised the evzone display as "extravagant figures resembling ballerinas for the pleasure of tourists".

From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2025

Like alien ballerinas who danced without needing any music.

From "The Thing About Jellyfish" by Ali Benjamin

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