perreo

American  

[per-ay-oh] / pɛrˈeɪ oʊ /

noun

perreos plural

1. a dance originating in Puerto Rican reggaeton culture, usually involving a dancer who moves their hips in a grinding or gyrating motion, sometimes against the hips of another person.

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Example Sentences

While a majority of his peers were feeding from reggaeton’s roots in Puerto Rico, he decided to bring his paisa, or Medellín-born slang and style to breed a more personal brand of perreo.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 6, 2025

For “Legendaddy,” his first solo album in a decade, El Cangri has inventoried the sounds and styles that have defined his career: self-mythologizing rap, perreo, EDM and popeton.

From New York Times • Mar. 29, 2022

Katelina Eccleston, the founder of the history platform Reggaeton Con la Gata, said that the period between 2007 and 2011 heralded the sound of “perreo galáctico,” or galactic perreo.

From New York Times • Dec. 22, 2021

“Hold on to the perreo like Ricky does to the government” read a third.

From The New Yorker • Jul. 26, 2019

Before word of Rosselló’s possible resignation had trickled in, the perreo, a reggaeton protest party, had been planned for seven that evening.

From The New Yorker • Jul. 26, 2019