prance
Americanverb (used without object)
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prances,
present (3rd person singular)
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pranced,
past participle, past
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prancing
present participle
-
to spring from the hind legs; to move by springing, as a horse.
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to ride on a horse doing this.
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to ride gaily, proudly, or insolently.
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to move or go in an elated manner; cavort.
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to dance or move in a lively or spirited manner; caper.
verb (used with object)
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prances,
present (3rd person singular)
-
pranced,
past participle, past
-
prancing
present participle
noun
verb
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(intr) to swagger or strut
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(intr) to caper, gambol, or dance about
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(intr)
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(of a horse) to move with high lively springing steps
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to ride a horse that moves in this way
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(tr) to cause to prance
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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prancesimple
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prancessimple
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have prancedperfect
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has prancedperfect
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am prancingprogressive
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are prancingprogressive
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is prancingprogressive
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have been prancingperfect progressive
-
has been prancingperfect progressive
Past
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prancedsimple
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had prancedperfect
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was prancingprogressive
-
were prancingprogressive
-
had been prancingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of prance
1325–75; Middle English prauncen, praunsen (v.); akin to Danish (dial.) pransk spirited, said of a horse
Explanation
When you prance, you swagger around with exaggerated, proud movements. If you've seen many rock concerts, you've seen people prance around onstage. When people prance, they're showing off, strutting for the benefit of their audience. Horses prance too, with a gait that's also a little artificial, using high, springy steps. You might prance a little when you run up on stage to accept an award, and a show horse might be equally inclined to prance as it moves past the judges. The horse gait definition is the original meaning of prance, and it probably comes from the Middle English pranken, "to show off."
Vocabulary lists containing prance
Horsin' Around
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Charlotte's Web
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This Feb. 29: 15 Words for "Leap"
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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:
Some people take this stuff way too seriously and kind of prance around the ring.
From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2024
Somewhere between Jacob Riis and Charlie Chaplin, Murillo offers a knowing but escapist prance through need.
From New York Times ● Jan. 12, 2023
That’s why they were in position to prance jubilantly off the field when Dunlap thwarted Garoppolo’s fourth-down, last-gasp effort to add to the litany of painful finishes for the Seahawks this season.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 5, 2021
“That doesn’t I mean have to put on a red-white-and-blue shirt and prance around a hall or whatever,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 2, 2021
Once Meereen is taken and we’re away to Westerns, you can prance about all you like in gold and crimson.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Taita prances along rock walls and rolls in the dirt, meowing with his tail held high.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
Watch Weymouth’s perfect, tiny pointed-toe prances, adding soft punctuation to the beat.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 19, 2023
In The Unseen Queen, the BBC's beautiful documentary of family-filmed footage of the young princess, Lilibet prances and dances, pranks and laughs.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2022
And sometimes Mitski’s charming prances around the stage in her flowy dress or pantomimed door-knocking in “Should’ve Been Me” warranted a snapshot.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 29, 2022
I yell as she prances into the infield.
From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen
I could see his wild imagination at work and his interest in being an entertainer as he pranced around the house doing Elvis impersonations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 11, 2025
Like Carrie’s playful tiptoe stride through the streets in heels, the show pranced around topics that, had it walked through them with intention, would have given the series traces of its former self.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2025
Ramirez’s 4-year-old daughter - who pranced behind her mother, blowing bubbles and popping the ones that landed in her brown curls - has a lung condition.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 24, 2023
Following an opening DJ set by Questlove, Jagger pranced and prowled a stage much smaller than he’s used to, one that a roadie prepared for him by sprinkling powder on the floor.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 19, 2023
The last were the most popular—the boys pranced round shrieking with laughter and throwing the crackers about everywhere, yet they were nimble enough to skip out of harm’s way.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
Hwang gathered along with 30 neighbours for a session in August, practising how to pay hospital bills at mock kiosks, patting a prancing robot dog, or asking their phones: "Gemini, tell me about tomorrow's weather."
From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026
In some caves where enlightened paradise is depicted, it’s utopic: singers and dancers prancing in revelry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
He was prancing about and really getting into it.
From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2026
The beige and blue mosaic of a prancing bull surrounded by a coat of arms is located in the city's historic 19th-Century Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II arcade.
From BBC ● May 29, 2026
They went on capering and prancing and, of course, carrying her with them.
From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers
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.
