hula

American

[hoo-luh] / ˈhu lə /

noun

a sinuous Hawaiian dance with intricate arm movements that tell a story in pantomime, usually danced to rhythmic drumming and accompanied by chanting.

hula British

/ ˈhuːlə /

noun

a Hawaiian dance performed by a woman

"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

Etymology

Origin of hula

Borrowed into English from Hawaiian around 1815–25

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:

hula

At a recent Hawaiian-themed wedding in Sausalito, Calif., most guests arrived in Hawaiian shirts and hula skirts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

I made a long-haired wig and a hula skirt out of sausages.

From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2024

Family, activists and observers displayed a five-foot-long hula hoe, a type of gardening tool that has a metal D-shaped fixture on the end for digging into dirt, that Gainer held when he was shot.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2024

Doris, who celebrated the victory with a hula dance, wore a flower behind her ear.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 12, 2024

I have sweat on my lip and my stomach is up in my chest doing some kind of hula dance.

From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023