ballerina

American  

[bal-uh-ree-nuh] / ˌbæl əˈri nə /

noun

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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Etymology

Origin of ballerina

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

Example Sentences

The story is completely absurd, filled with plot holes and characters as thin as a prima ballerina.

From Salon • Mar. 29, 2026

Thousands of people waiting in a rainy Piazza del Duomo cheered as torchbearer Nicoletta Manni, an Italian ballerina, carried it into the square, over an hour behind schedule.

From Barron's • Feb. 5, 2026

It also discovered 300 new locations across the country for pink waxcap, also known as the ballerina waxcap as its cap flares out like a pirouetting dancer.

From BBC • Oct. 7, 2025

The writer Jia Tolentino characterized it as “what a ballerina might do if you concussed her and then made her snort caffeine pills.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 11, 2025

“It’s how you feel about who you are that counts. Hummph,” she said, twirling around on her toes like a ballerina with bad feet.

From "The Skin I'm In" by Sharon G. Flake