cakewalk
Americannoun
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(formerly) a promenade or march, of Black American origin, in which the couples with the most intricate or eccentric steps received cakes as prizes.
-
a dance with a strutting step based on this promenade.
-
music for this dance.
-
Informal. something easy, sure, or certain.
verb (used without object)
noun
-
a dance based on a march with intricate steps, originally performed by African-Americans with the prize of a cake for the best performers
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a piece of music composed for this dance
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informal an easily accomplished task
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of cakewalk
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.
Nonetheless, the U.S. insisted leading up to Thursday that the rematch wouldn’t be a cakewalk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026
Ireland were hanging on by their fingernails, before a second-half rally threatened to turn a cakewalk into a contest.
From Barron's ● Feb. 5, 2026
If this is to be a series to be remembered - rather than a forgettable cakewalk - then the Wallabies have to make it so.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2025
With that sentence over my head, I’m not gonna say that it was a cakewalk, because it wasn’t.
From Slate ● Mar. 19, 2024
I admit I got more nervous the closer we got to Lockhart, but' Harry kept telling me it would be a cakewalk.
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
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.
