ballet

[ba-ley, bal-ey]

noun

1. a classical dance form demanding grace and precision and employing formalized steps and gestures set in intricate, flowing patterns to create expression through movement.

2. a theatrical entertainment in which ballet dancing and music, often with scenery and costumes, combine to tell a story, establish an emotional atmosphere, etc.

3. an interlude of ballet in an operatic performance.

4. a company of ballet dancers.

5. the musical score for a ballet.

   the brilliant ballets of Tchaikovsky.

6. a dance or balletlike performance.

   an ice-skating ballet.

ballet

/ bæˈleɪ, bæˈlɛtɪk, ˈbæleɪ /

noun

1. 1. a classical style of expressive dancing based on precise conventional steps with gestures and movements of grace and fluidity

   2. ( as modifier )

      ballet dancer

2. a theatrical representation of a story or theme performed to music by ballet dancers

3. a troupe of ballet dancers

4. a piece of music written for a ballet

ballet

1. Theatrical entertainment in which dancers, usually accompanied by music, tell a story or express a mood through their movements. The technique of ballet is elaborate and requires many years of training. Two classical ballets are Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, composed by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Two great modern ballets are The Rite of Spring, composed by Igor Stravinsky, and Fancy Free, by Leonard Bernstein.

Other Word Forms

• balletic adjective
• balletically adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of ballet¹

1660–70; < French, Middle French < Italian balletto, equivalent to ball ( o ) ball ² + -etto -et

Word History and Origins

Origin of ballet¹

C17: from French, from Italian balletto literally: a little dance, from ballare to dance; see _ball ²

Example Sentences

She was set to perform a ballet dance, but broke her foot the week after entering the event and so used another of her musical theatre talents to impress the judges.

Read more on BBC

I feel like I’m simultaneously juggling, running, and performing a ballet routine.

Read more on Literature

For, really, what were the odds of finding a letter from the tsar’s own ballet company lying on the doorstep?

Read more on Literature

The women were inseparable in life as well as death, learning to dance when they were children and applying their skills with the Leipzig Opera children’s ballet, the AP said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Led by Mr. Roxander’s powerful dancing and cheeky projection, the five-part ballet projected force and fun, duly supported by two secondary women and an animated female ensemble plus a few men.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• choreography 
• dance