rumba
Americannoun
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a dance, Cuban in origin and complex in rhythm.
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an imitation or adaptation of this dance in the United States.
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music for this dance or in its rhythm.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a rhythmic and syncopated Cuban dance in duple time
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a ballroom dance derived from this
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a piece of music composed for or in the rhythm of this dance
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of rumba
First recorded in 1910–15; from Latin American Spanish (Cuba): literally, “party; spree,” from Spanish rumbo “commotion, uproar,” earlier “ostentation, pomp”; further origin uncertain
Vocabulary lists containing rumba
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:
“Sunshower” praises the power of love and features a hearty rumba supporting piano, flutes and strings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
A thudding kick drum and a mournful sax set up “I’ll Play the Fool” before a rubbery rumba beat and swing band take over.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
The singer's unique style and artistry has "contributed to the promotion of Congolese rumba and the dissemination of Congolese culture to an international audience," she added.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
Both 72, they call the event Los Tradicionales — “the traditional ones” — because their goal is to help preserve Cuba’s rich dance heritage, from rumba to timba to casino, an ancestor of salsa.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 4, 2026
And it was his playing of the rumba that had made Tucker want to dance, and so tip over the matches.
From "The Cricket in Times Square" by George Selden
At Chez Régine, she served bottles of liquor instead of just cocktails and played a then-exotic mix of rumbas, tangos, merengues and rock songs.
From Washington Post ● May 2, 2022
Most of the great entertainers in Soundies played jazz, but there are films with the blues, cowboy tunes, Hawaiian melodies, polka music, rumbas, the works.
From New York Times ● Jun. 11, 2020
Yes, they would be subjected to certain indignities for the audience’s delectation, but only the micro-humiliations of botched pasodobles and flubbed rumbas.
From Slate ● May 24, 2016
Many Congolese like to reflect on five generations of musicians, whose languorous rumbas and faster modern beats, adored across Africa and beyond, have served them better than any government.
From Economist ● Apr. 28, 2016
It would all happen like the brass sections in the Ruizes’ best rumbas, a meteoric cartoon explosion, with no blood or pain.
From "Krik? Krak!" by Edwidge Danticat
On October 5, though, the high-rise supper club where Astors and Roosevelts once rumbaed reopens for business, thanks to a ravishing renovation by Manhattan’s Gabellini Sheppard Associates.
From Architectural Digest ● Sep. 30, 2014
A widower he shuns liquor and tobacco but likes feminine companionship, nightclubs and rumbaing till dawn.
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
