cha-cha
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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cha-chasimple
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cha-chassimple
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have cha-chaedperfect
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has cha-chaedperfect
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am cha-chaingprogressive
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are cha-chaingprogressive
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is cha-chaingprogressive
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have been cha-chaingperfect progressive
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has been cha-chaingperfect progressive
Past
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cha-chaedsimple
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had cha-chaedperfect
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was cha-chaingprogressive
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were cha-chaingprogressive
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had been cha-chaingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of cha-cha
First recorded in 1950–55; from Latin American Spanish (Cuban) cha-cha-cha, probably imitative of the musical accompaniment
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:
Baseball and softball leagues now compete for space with soccer in Curitiba’s parks, couples dance Cuba’s cha-cha in local bars and Cuban workers fill Curitiba’s construction sites and kitchens.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
After his instant dance performance, a cha-cha to DNCE’s “Cake by the Ocean,” he acknowledged the toll the competition had taken.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 26, 2025
Judge Craig Revel Horwood praised their cha-cha to 100 Degrees by Kylie and Dannii Minogue, saying it was "absolutely fierce, serving realness, serving fab-u-lous".
From BBC ● Dec. 25, 2024
"Maybe he can get some lessons and go over there. He can't even do the cha-cha; that's the point."
From Salon ● Apr. 25, 2023
A friend whose dad listens to old-school R&B and likes to cha-cha in the kitchen and sing about how today was a good day.
From "A Good Kind of Trouble" by Lisa Moore Ramée
British Cycling gave us great kit – nice shorts, shoes, gloves, but no anti-abrasion ointment, no medical chat about the dangers of chafing our cha-chas out of existence.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 26, 2019
The Elgart band’s repertoire shifted away from its earlier experiments in jazz into a polite lineup of big-band favorites, cha-chas and bossa nova standards.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 1, 2017
He and a trio started with an album for Decca Records called “Bagels and Bongos,” which whimsically transformed melancholy Yiddish chestnuts like “Raisins and Almonds” and “My Yiddishe Momme” into cha-chas or mambos.
From New York Times ● Aug. 22, 2016
The Dance Duel: With simultaneous cha-chas to Lady Gaga’s “Edge of Glory,” Jaleel’s clear talent advantage shined through.
From Time ● Apr. 18, 2012
The party will start with refreshments, followed by dancing—rock and roll on the record player for Susie’s friends and merengues and cha-chas by a live Dominican combo for her parents’ guests.
From "Before We Were Free" by Julia Alvarez
Where young people once cha-chaed through the night, now the elderly struggle to survive on their Social Security checks.
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
