dancer
noun
a person who dances.
dancer
1 American
[dan-ser, dahn-]
/ ˈdæn sər, ˈdɑn- /
Dancer
2
American
[dan-ser, dahn-]
/ ˈdæn sər, ˈdɑn- /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of dancer
Explanation
A dancer is someone who dances for fun, as a hobby, or for a job. The dancers at a rock concert often look like they're enjoying the music most of all. You can be a dancer at your cousin's wedding reception, or a dancer in a professional ballet corps. Though the second example requires a much more serious commitment than the first, they both require you to move your body rhythmically, usually accompanied by music. In Old French, dancer means "to dance," and its origin is somewhat uncertain. One theory connects the word to the Old Frisian dintje, which means "tremble or quiver."
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:
"It's the same dancer with a different choreography," she says.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 5, 2026
The professional ballroom dancer also slammed rumors that she was at all dissatisfied with her celebrity pairing alongside 55-year-old Rodriguez, the talk show sidekick to Jimmy Kimmel on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026
The witches are thus visible manifestations of internal malevolent urges, and the 12 dancer witches who supplemented the large singing chorus of hags appeared throughout the evening—observing, slipping through walls, and egging the protagonists on.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Raquel Meseguer Zafe, a professional dancer from Easton, developed chronic pain in her late 20s.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
Nora stood beside me and squeezed my hand, whispering, “You’re a good dancer for such a little kid.”
From "Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina" by Michaela DePrince
Ben Dancer, 33, has been dancing professionally for 18 years.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
So when Sunny Dancer, a film about a summer camp for young people affected by cancer, gave Ramsey seven weeks to experience teenage freedom, it was an opportunity to dive straight in.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
These include Klimt’s knockout masterpiece, 1916-18 “The Dancer” and Kirchner’s 1911 “The Russian Dancer Mela,” as well works by Otto Dix, George Grosz and Franz Marc.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
Dancer Alyse Rockett tossed her phone on the seat next to me, revealing the material for which the troupe has been preparing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2026
"We need money so that we can stage our production of Tiny Dancer."
From "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan
Ruprecht compares the behavior to a row of dancers standing with their arms linked.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 5, 2026
It isn’t lost on the filmmakers that the contrast between dancers and their audience—the former necessarily young, the latter increasingly older—is a phenomenon that poses a threat to all the classical arts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
It moved to the live stage, with Hargitay flanked by dancers with television heads.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
Xi was given a red-carpet welcome, with an honour guard of soldiers and traditional dancers in colourful dresses.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
We make our way through the underside of the tables, with ballads and drinking songs sung above us, screams and whispers in the air, and the soft footfalls of dancers echoing around us like rain.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
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.
