ballet
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.
Origin of ballet
1Other words from ballet
- bal·let·ic [ba-let-ik, buh-], /bæˈlɛt ɪk, bə-/, adjective
- bal·let·i·cal·ly, adverb
Words that may be confused with ballet
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use ballet in a sentence
“Not all students have the privilege of taking ballet classes or sports clubs,” said Julia Stevens, the president of Oregon’s SHAPE chapter.
Kids are shooting hoops with rolled up socks, but pandemic physical education is not canceled | Kelly Field | February 12, 2021 | Washington PostThe average in buyer upgrades in the quarter was $183,000, also the most in the company’s history, as buyers feather their new nests with home offices and gyms, complete with rubberized floors, full-length mirrored walls and built-in ballet barres.
Toll Brothers CEO Doug Yearley on Where Americans Are Moving During the Pandemic | Eben Shapiro | January 10, 2021 | TimeRusso is no Nabokov, to be sure, but if the comedy here is clumsier, and the language less balletic, the pathos is no less real.
Must-Read College Novels: From “Lucky Jim” to “Pnin” | Sam Munson | August 13, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTEverything about his game, from the silent, balletic footwork to his deceptive strength is functioning with clockwork precision.
British Dictionary definitions for ballet
/ (ˈbæleɪ, bæˈleɪ) /
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
Origin of ballet
1Derived forms of ballet
- balletic (bæˈlɛtɪk), adjective
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
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.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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