maraca
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of maraca
1815–25; < Portuguese < Tupi maráka
Explanation
A maraca is a musical instrument that you shake — the stones or beans rattle against the hollow case in time to the beat of the music. If the violin seems a bit too complicated to learn, try out some maracas! Maracas are percussion instruments commonly used in Latin and Caribbean music. They mark the beat like drums do, and they are fairly simple to play. Most traditional maracas are made out of dried, hollow gourds or coconut shells, and they're filled with dry beans or pebbles. The word maraca comes from the Portuguese, via a Brazilian language called Tupi. In some French-speaking parts of the world, maracas are called "shac-shacs."
Vocabulary lists containing maraca
Music to My Ears: Instrumental Vocab
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The Distance Between Us
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Musical Instruments - Introductory
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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:
That’s where he got his maraca work from.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2025
Another attendee was Naldinho Kumaruara, 29, a spiritual leader wearing a crown of blue macaw feathers and a necklace made of snake bones, and who held a giant maraca in his hand.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 7, 2023
He wore a long headdress of blue macaw feathers and held a maraca.
From Reuters ● Aug. 25, 2021
That’s Sierra, now 2, playing a maraca for her father’s band.
From New York Times ● May 19, 2020
The store is under the Number 7 train and rattles like a maraca.
From "Lucky Broken Girl" by Ruth Behar
We're speaking in the middle of the same crowded bistro, where maracas, horns, matracas, and chants almost drown out our conversation.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
The WBC allowed fans to bring in 16 “permissible instruments,” including bongos, cowbells, maracas and trumpets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2026
It turns the Switch’s palm-sized Joy-Con controllers into a pair of maracas, and your challenge is to shake them in rhythm to an assortment of dance hits.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 27, 2023
There are brightly painted maracas and Valentine’s Day teddy bears.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 7, 2023
She could sing, play the cello, and even juggle maracas.
From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein
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.
