ballet

[ ba-ley, bal-ey ]

/ bæˈleɪ, ˈbæl eɪ /

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See synonyms for: ballet / balletic on Thesaurus.com

noun

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

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

an interlude of ballet in an operatic performance.

a company of ballet dancers.

the musical score for a ballet: the brilliant ballets of Tchaikovsky.

a dance or balletlike performance: an ice-skating ballet.

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Origin of ballet

1660–70; <French, Middle French <Italian balletto, equivalent to ball(o) ball² + -etto-et

OTHER WORDS FROM ballet

bal·let·ic

[ba-let-ik, buh-], /bæˈlɛt ɪk, bə-/, adjectivebal·let·i·cal·ly, adverb

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH ballet

ballad, ballet , ballot

Words nearby ballet

ball control, balled-and-burlapped, baller, ballerina, Ballesteros, ballet, ballet blanc, ballet flat, ballet master, ballet mistress, balletomane

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use ballet in a sentence

If you know you’re never going to record a ballet class, for example, delete that option if you can.
Best fitness tracker: Hit your health goals and sleep better with these picks|PopSci Commerce Team|January 27, 2021|Popular-Science
If I had gotten into the Royal Ballet School, I would have gone to ballet school and become a ballet dancer.
The BBC’s Katty Kay Shuts Down Men Who ‘Tell Me to Shut Up’|Eugene Robinson|January 23, 2021|Ozy
So I’ve decided to spend an hour a week of my time in a local ballet studio, in a mask, plie-ing and pirouetting, or at least trying.
Freed from the pre-pandemic rush, my teen rediscovered a beloved hobby — and so did I|Kristen Chase|January 12, 2021|Washington Post
In one day’s strip, Calvin and Hobbes might engage in, say, a ballet of physical comedy — the stretch and squash effects rendering the strip as near to animation as a static art form can.
‘Calvin and Hobbes’ said goodbye 25 years ago. Here’s why Bill Watterson’s masterwork enchants us still.|Michael Cavna|December 31, 2020|Washington Post

So many things have already been taken from them — school, their friends, ballet recitals, taekwondo — that, honestly, I just want to wake up on Christmas morning and see their eyes light up.
A time to splurge or a time to scrape by: Holidays expose widening disparity among U.S. families|Abha Bhattarai|December 17, 2020|Washington Post
Monir is not interested in classic dances like tango or ballet.
Iran’s Becoming a Footloose Nation as Dance Lessons Spread|IranWire|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
When I studied in London back in 2005, I actually saw the ballet, too.
Tim Burton Talks ‘Big Eyes,’ His Taste For the Macabre, and the ‘Beetlejuice’ Sequel|Marlow Stern|December 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But she was forced to drop it at 11 to focus all her energy on ballet.
The Making of Kiesza: From Navy Sharpshooter to Beauty Queen to Pop Diva|Marlow Stern|October 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But the New York City Ballet seems to have found the answer: Valentino.
How High Fashion Saved the Ballet|Raquel Laneri|October 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Yet few have done so with as much fanfare, star power, and consistency as the New York City Ballet.
How High Fashion Saved the Ballet|Raquel Laneri|October 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Two unsophisticated country lasses visited Niblo's in New York during the ballet season.
The Book of Anecdotes and Budget of Fun;|Various
I have foolishly undertaken to write music for a ballet Cinderella, at a very small fee.
The Life & Letters of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky|Modeste Tchaikovsky
In their youth both had been enthusiastic admirers of the ballet, and had often tried to imitate the art of the dancers.
The Life & Letters of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky|Modeste Tchaikovsky
She remained alone until the curtain fell upon the first act of the ballet.
The Double Four|E. Phillips Oppenheim
They carried him away without any fuss, and Peter was just in time, after all, to see the finish of the second act of the ballet.
The Double Four|E. Phillips Oppenheim

British Dictionary definitions for ballet

ballet

/ (ˈbæleɪ, bæˈleɪ) /

noun

a classical style of expressive dancing based on precise conventional steps with gestures and movements of grace and fluidity
(as modifier)ballet dancer

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

a troupe of ballet dancers

a piece of music written for a ballet

Derived forms of ballet

balletic (bæˈlɛtɪk), adjective

Word Origin for ballet

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for ballet

ballet

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.

ballet

Origin of ballet

OTHER WORDS FROM ballet

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH ballet

Words nearby ballet

Words related to ballet

How to use ballet in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for ballet

Derived forms of ballet

Word Origin for ballet

Cultural definitions for ballet