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.
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Informal. something easy, sure, or certain.
verb (used without object)
noun
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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
“He ended up winning,” Kobe said, “but it was a battle to the end. It wasn’t no cakewalk for him.”
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 4, 2024
The rest of the way was a cakewalk.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
