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
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were prancingprogressive
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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:
All the better to be able to wiggle, shimmy and prance your way around it.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2022
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
“I do like dressing up and wearing full makeup. Because who doesn’t want to prance through the woods and feel like a woman fairy? But some of it is definitely about looking super-approachable,” she said.
From New York Times ● Jul. 30, 2021
And as I watched them prance and dance around the parking lot like sugared-up puppets, I told myself to stop rationing pleasure as if it were a paycheck.
From "Hole in My Life" by Jack Gantos
Behind him, a baby coyote prances into the fog.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 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
She prances about, swishing her gown left and right, beaming brighter than a morning-lantern as she waits for us to gush over her.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
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
Pretty soon, Syd, with his funny feet, hockey stick legs, thick swishy tail, and ballerina-like moves, pranced down hallways and welcomed outsiders into his new neighborhood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 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
Rewatching footage of her son bursting with youthful exuberance as he pranced on a soccer field, Fida Zalabani refuses to believe he tried to kill anyone.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 31, 2023
Wolf thought it a huge game, and pranced round them with a big wolf smile.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
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
Yet the brand with the prancing horse logo took several years before deciding to throw its hat into the all-electric ring.
From Barron's ● May 26, 2026
Suddenly, the rock god who only three years prior hit his commercial apex with “Let’s Dance,” a master of artistic shapeshifting who pioneered music videos long before MTV existed, was prancing around with Muppets.
From Salon ● Jan. 24, 2026
And the groove, this time led by a simple, prancing line by Mr. Maynard, simulates the rhythmic movement of tidying up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 6, 2026
But later that morning, Fifth Wife was smiling again, prancing around in a new dress and new shoes.
From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
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.
