pirouette
Americannoun
-
a whirling about on one foot or on the points of the toes, as in ballet dancing.
-
Dressage. a complete turn in which the horse uses its hind legs as a pivot.
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
pirouettesimple
-
pirouettessimple
-
have pirouettedperfect
-
has pirouettedperfect
-
am pirouettingprogressive
-
are pirouettingprogressive
-
is pirouettingprogressive
-
have been pirouettingperfect progressive
-
has been pirouettingperfect progressive
Past
-
pirouettedsimple
-
had pirouettedperfect
-
was pirouettingprogressive
-
were pirouettingprogressive
-
had been pirouettingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pirouette
1700–10; < French: a whirl, top, feminine of Middle French pirouet, equivalent to pirou- (cognate with Italian pirolo, diminutive of piro peg) + -et -et
Explanation
A dancer's spin, especially when he's balanced on one foot, is a pirouette. A pirouette is a ballet term meaning to whirl or spin while balanced on the toes. In the case of a ballerina, she would pirouette while "en pointe," poised on the very toe of her shoe with the other leg bent. You can also use the word to describe a more casual spin, like an exuberant little boy who pirouettes through the halls of his school. In Old French, the root word pirouet meant "spinning top."
Vocabulary lists containing pirouette
Power Suffix: -ette
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Curtain Call: Dance and Theater Terms
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
The Phantom Tollbooth
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
“A four-legged creature is hard to make look right because he has to stand up and do things,” he told The Times — athletic things, like performing a pirouette.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2026
In Hover mode, the joystick provides fine-grained yaw control, allowing the BlackFly to execute its surreal pirouette.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025
Since his return Wharton has produced a number of eye-catching performances and it is common to see edits of his best moments - such as a pirouette against Fulham - on social media.
From BBC ● Apr. 5, 2025
During so-called learning walks, the animals then explore the immediate surroundings around the nest entrance and repeatedly pirouette around their own body axis with short stops in between.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 13, 2024
“You can hope there ain’t a sortie tonight, Prince O. Or if there is, you can pirouette after the enemy to fright them.”
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
"I had the time of my life there. It's not a stage-stage school, but of course there's kids doing pirouettes and going 'Aaaaaahhhhh!' in the hallways," Adele told BBC 4 radio in 2022.
From Barron's ● Apr. 27, 2026
Yet, their conversation always pirouettes back to the gap between the real world and the movies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2025
For the next 30 minutes, the band are on fire, playing with purpose and swagger while Abigail pirouettes around the stage, dressed like Wednesday Addams playing a character from Bridgerton.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2023
Shortly after launching on 1 July, the European space observatory Euclid started performing tiny, unexpected pirouettes.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 10, 2023
From morning till night it continued: the choosing of outfits, the practicing of pirouettes, the making of to-do lists.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
Dressed in MJ's Billie Jean outfit, she pirouetted and moonwalked and jumped on the tables as if she'd been possessed by the man himself.
From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2025
On a recent afternoon, 18 members of Birmingham Royal Ballet spun, pirouetted and leaped across a rehearsal room, with all the grace and skill associated with classical dance.
From New York Times ● Sep. 25, 2023
Union resisted Madrid’s first 29 goal attempts but the 30th proved too much when Jude Bellingham pirouetted to finish a game of pinball in the goalmouth and shoot into an empty net.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 20, 2023
“See how she pirouetted away from that question about honoring precedent — beautiful hideballet there.”
From Washington Post ● Feb. 10, 2022
The toads pirouetted and leapt gracefully with the music as they made their way to their team members.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
Playing the Dead’s “Blues for Allah” on this tour — an LP rooted in Middle Eastern scales, pirouetting time signatures and improvisational telepathy — put him in communion with his old friend.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
In 2020, Anthony Madu’s dance teacher in Lagos, Nigeria, posted a video of the then 11-year-old student gracefully pirouetting and pulling off grand jetés barefoot in the rain.
From New York Times ● Apr. 5, 2024
The Hawick native picked her moment to pounce beautifully, pirouetting beyond a tackle and grounding.
From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2023
Elsewhere in the country, ballets are also pirouetting up from the page.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 1, 2023
Ignatius picked up one of his elephantine desert boots and flung it at the pirouetting figure.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
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.
