ballroom
Americannoun
-
ballrooms
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of ballroom
Explanation
A ballroom is a room that has enough space for many people to dance. Traditionally, a ballroom has either a hardwood or marble floor. Most private houses are built without ballrooms these days, but it was once common for a grand home or mansion to include a special room for throwing dance parties. These ballrooms were large, with high ceilings, and could accommodate a live band and many dancers. Ballroom dancing was originally a formal, social dance form that only happened in ballrooms. The word comes from ball, or party, with the Latin root ballare, "to dance."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The Welsh dancer made a return to the ballroom floor in 2025, and has been candid about her experiences of the disease, including having a mastectomy, chemotherapy and fertility treatment.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
At an impromptu press conference last week, US President Donald Trump waxed lyrical about his helipad, his ballroom and his granite paving stones.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
The president has proposed building a ballroom at his private golf club in Bedminster that would be used for holiday events and weddings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
She is upset about the White House ballroom as well.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
Sol Bloom kept order on the ballroom floor.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
He told me that during his childhood, Eid prayers were sometimes held in hotel ballrooms because mosques were too few and too small.
From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026
His company pinpointed underground parking lots and hotel ballrooms as possible shelter areas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026
Demos, presentations and meetings will take place in a massive convention center as well as ballrooms and suites throughout the city.
From Barron's ● Jan. 3, 2026
In between the tribute bands and memorabilia vendors, one of the big attractions was screenings of various rare or bootleg film footage, screened in cavernous hotel ballrooms.
From Salon ● Nov. 25, 2025
I am invited very often these days to speak about modern education in college auditoriums and in Holiday Inn ballrooms.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
