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Synonyms

cakewalk

American  
[keyk-wawk] / ˈkeɪkˌwɔk /

noun

  1. (formerly) a promenade or march, of Black American origin, in which the couples with the most intricate or eccentric steps received cakes as prizes.

  2. a dance with a strutting step based on this promenade.

  3. music for this dance.

  4. Informal. something easy, sure, or certain.

verb (used without object)

  1. to walk or dance in or as if in a cakewalk.

cakewalk British  
/ ˈkeɪkˌwɔːk /

noun

  1. a dance based on a march with intricate steps, originally performed by African-Americans with the prize of a cake for the best performers

  2. a piece of music composed for this dance

  3. informal an easily accomplished task

"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

verb

  1. (intr) to perform the cakewalk

"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

Other Word Forms

  • cakewalker noun

Etymology

Origin of cakewalk

First recorded in 1860–65; cake + walk

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

However, from that point it was a relative cakewalk for India as Kohli guided them to the target with his usual elan en route to his 51st ODI century.

From BBC • Feb. 23, 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 went by the cakewalk in a marquee festooned with many curls of flypaper.

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.