polka
Americannoun
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a lively couple dance of Bohemian origin, with music in duple meter.
-
a piece of music for such a dance or in its rhythm.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a 19th-century Bohemian dance with three steps and a hop, in fast duple time
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a piece of music composed for or in the rhythm of this dance
verb
Discover More
Johann Strauss, the Younger wrote many polkas.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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polkasimple
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polkassimple
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have polkaedperfect
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has polkaedperfect
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am polkaingprogressive
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are polkaingprogressive
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is polkaingprogressive
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have been polkaingperfect progressive
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has been polkaingperfect progressive
Past
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polkaedsimple
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had polkaedperfect
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was polkaingprogressive
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were polkaingprogressive
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had been polkaingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of polka
1835–45; < Czech: literally, Polish woman or girl; compare Polish polka Polish woman, polak Pole
Explanation
Polka is both a dance and a type of live music that's played specifically for dancing the polka. Many people associate polka music with the accordion. The origins of the polka go back to a Czech folk dance, and the word itself comes from the Czech pulka, or "half," a reference to the common "half-steps" in Bohemian dances. Polka spread to the wider Czech culture by the 1830s, and soon after to Paris, England, and the United States, where it was adopted as the "national dance" of U.S. Polish immigrants during the 20th century. It's also a verb: "Hear that music? Let's polka!"
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:
Without fail, the miniature version of me would blubber at Sully the polka dot monster reuniting with Boo, and Marlin the clownfish traversing the ocean to find his son.
From Salon ● Jun. 6, 2026
She later went from a figure-hugging sheer lavender Gucci gown to a playful daytime polka dot ensemble from Jacquemus matched with retro white sun glasses, with Elle magazine praising her "old Hollywood" dash.
From Barron's ● May 22, 2026
"You need to get colour and interest into the room. I go for stripes or check or polka dot and you can get a set for around £10."
From BBC ● Feb. 15, 2026
Back in the actual 1990s, ice dancers cycled through traditional dances: samba, blues, polka, rumba, quickstep, tango, jive, paso doble, Viennese waltz.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 9, 2026
I picked out this blouse that has red polka dots.
From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga
On weekends, this mixture of Viennese popular music, including swinging waltzes, wild polkas and military marches, enthused thousands of visitors, often as many as 10,000.
From New York Times ● Dec. 30, 2022
Germans who settled in Texas and northern Mexico in the 1850s brought infectiously danceable polkas played on button accordions — and helped birth regional Tex-Mex styles.
From Seattle Times ● May 20, 2022
How a symphonic orchestra would work with norteño, which is built around bouncing polkas and fast-paced accordion riffs, was a lingering question as cellists filed onto the stage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2018
At retirement homes, they play songs, such as “Mother’s Waltz” and “Little Burnt Potato,” polkas and themed songs depending on the time of year, Polly Wild said.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 27, 2017
They played movie themes, polkas, anything familiar you could hum along to; the corny songs were all dedicated to "Poppy" or "his lovely lady."
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
“Ain’t the Arsenal where Pudge O’Shay threatened to take me to tea the afternoon Dot polkaed up those sacred rocks to the block-house?”
From Lonesome Town by Dorrance, Ethel
And after they had eaten the supper, Bengel's fiddle sounded in the parlor, and they danced, and they waltzed, and they polkaed to their hearts' content.
From Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Ten Christmas stories by Hale, Edward E.
The older ones square-danced in the middle of the hall and we younger ones waltzed and polkaed in a long line down the outside ring.
From Land of the Burnt Thigh by Voorhies, Stephen J.
Page 19 polked to their hearts' content changed to polkaed to their hearts' content Page 3912 Quotation mark removed from the end of the line down and kisses her!
From Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Ten Christmas stories by Hale, Edward E.
I saw them as I was polkaing past upon my trusty steed just now.
From Lonesome Town by Dorrance, Ethel
She may not always be waltzing or polkaing, but if she is conventionally sound she is sure to be in a whirl.
From The Opinions of a Philosopher by Grant, Robert
The waltzing, polkaing, etc., appeared to me a most ridiculous and indecent exhibition; and it was a long time before this feeling wore off.
From The Thistle and the Cedar of Lebanon by Risk Allah, Habeeb
The vigor of polkaing and church-going are proportioned; as is the one so is the other.
From The Wit and Humor of America, Volume II. (of X.) by Wilder, Marshall Pinckney
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.
