cabana
Americannoun
-
a small cabin or tentlike structure for use as a bathhouse, especially on a beach or by a swimming pool.
-
a cabin or cottage.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of cabana
1830–40; < Spanish cabaña; see cabin
Explanation
A cabana is a small, sometimes portable changing room near a swimming pool or beach. You may put your swim suit on in a cabana before diving into the cold ocean water. A traditional cabana is a tent that can be moved from one spot to another on the beach. It's a mobile dressing room, where swimmers can dry off and put their clothes on. You can use the word cabana to describe any poolside changing room or building — it comes from the Spanish cabaña, with its Late Latin root capana, "hut" or "cabin."
Vocabulary lists containing cabana
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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:
Food and drink - both with a tropical theme - is delivered directly to your cabana by one of the 50 staff who work at the venue, which can hold up to 500 people.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
Outside, cantilevered decks and platforms overlook a lap pool, spa, sauna and cabana shrouded in eucalyptus, sycamore, oak and bamboo.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 29, 2026
The property “designed for grand-scale entertaining and quiet retreat alike” includes a cozy home theater, a chic bar, a pool cabana, a large gym, a game room, an outdoor projection screen, and a sport court.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 30, 2025
Epstein made renovations and additions, including building a cabana with a second pool on the other side of the island.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 14, 2025
He borrowed brief snippets of sleep in the cabana, always awakened by music, or raucous laughter, or fireworks.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
Tents, cabanas and canopies have been banned along stretches of the Jersey Shore for the last two years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2026
Economic headwinds have reduced tourism to Las Vegas after a postpandemic boom, with consumers now bristling over higher starting bids at table games and increased prices for beverages and poolside cabanas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
A row over the acceptable use of cabanas has dominated social media, spawned a wave of opinion pieces and television segments, and even dragged in the prime minister.
From BBC ● Jan. 8, 2025
I was at the Beverly Hills Hotel, on one of the pool cabanas.
From Salon ● May 18, 2024
Rustic thatched-roof cabanas were built on Rest Beach.
From Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm
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.
