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• carioca
  carioca

  noun

  a modification of the samba.
• Carioca
  Carioca

  noun

  a native of Rio de Janeiro.

carioca

¹ American  

[kar-ee-oh-kuh] / ˌkær iˈoʊ kə /

noun

1. a modification of the samba.

2. the music for this dance.

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Carioca ² American  

[kar-ee-oh-kuh, kah-ree-aw-kuh] / ˌkær iˈoʊ kə, ˌkɑ riˈɔ kə /

noun

1. a native of Rio de Janeiro.

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carioca British  

/ ˌkærɪˈəʊkə /

noun

1. a Brazilian dance similar to the samba

2. a piece of music composed for this dance

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Etymology

Origin of carioca¹

First recorded in 1930–35; after Carioca

Origin of Carioca²

1820–30; < Brazilian Portuguese < Tupi, equivalent to cari white + oca house or boca descendant of

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

carioca Carioca

Anitta came up as a choir girl in the church she attended with her maternal grandparents, but funk carioca, Brazil’s friskier, rhythmic approach to hip-hop, had captivated the singer from a young age.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2022

Over the next few years, the sound was repurposed in a variety of new contexts, alongside cumbia, funk carioca and other styles.

From New York Times ● Dec. 22, 2021

And, on Sundays, half of Rio’s waterfront highway is closed to traffic, making the distinctive orange bikes a quintessentially carioca way to reach the beach.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 5, 2019

Ms. Pinheiro is a born-and-bred carioca, as Rio natives are known, unlike Ms. Bündchen, who hails from Brazil’s southernmost state, Rio Grande do Sul, bordering Argentina and Uruguay.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2016

Near the carioca, or aqueduct, stood the seminary of St. Joseph, where the servants of the church received their education, adopting on their entrance the clerical habit and tonsure.

From An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, Volume 1 With Remarks on the Dispositions, Customs, Manners, Etc. of The Native Inhabitants of That Country. to Which Are Added, Some Particulars of New Zealand; Compiled, By Permission, From The Mss. of Lieutenant-Governor King. by David Collins

At the famed Casa Carioca nightclub in southern Germany, I danced one memorable night away.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 2, 2024

In the city of Pará de Minas, authorities were monitoring the Carioca hydroelectric dam amid concerns it could burst.

From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2022

The 53-year-old Carioca, as Rio natives are known, spent the first four months after his release from jail under house arrest.

From Reuters ● Jul. 19, 2021

She created stars like Tahia Carioca, the “Arab Marilyn Monroe,” who was married 14 times and famously slapped Egypt’s King Farouk when he threw an ice cube down her dress.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 2, 2019

The barracks of the Carioca are built, and the other barracks are prepared.

From Journal of a Voyage to Brazil And Residence There During Part of the Years 1821, 1822, 1823 by Maria Graham

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