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

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

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

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

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

Suwa nevertheless instilled in the fledgling ballerina a discipline and rigor that would carry Morishita through her career.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

Monson de Kansky trained with the former Bolshoi Ballet prima ballerina for three years, until her father inquired about her future.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

No jewelry box with a ballerina in it.

From "Free Lunch" by Rex Ogle

“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

That meant that his first prominent patients weren’t point guards or centers but New York’s premier ballerinas.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026

Blessedly, these ballerinas didn’t learn their skills in prison or the foster system, and their tutus are not fodder for a satanic pyre.

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

As we walk, snowflakes twirl like ballerinas and land on the ground, creating a soft pillow to walk on.

From "Betty Before X" by Ilyasah Shabazz and Renée Watson