shimmy
Americannoun
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an American ragtime dance marked by shaking of the hips and shoulders.
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excessive wobbling in the front wheels of a motor vehicle.
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a chemise.
verb (used without object)
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to dance the shimmy.
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to shake, wobble, or vibrate.
noun
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an American ragtime dance with much shaking of the hips and shoulders
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abnormal wobbling motion in a motor vehicle, esp in the front wheels or steering
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an informal word for chemise
verb
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to dance the shimmy
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to vibrate or wobble
Usage
What does shimmy mean? The shimmy is a dance move that involves repeated shaking of the shoulders and hips, as in The dancer entranced the audience with her hypnotizing shimmy. Shimmy can also mean to perform the specific dance or to shake or wobble in general, as in The puppy shimmied through the tight doggy door. The noun shimmy may be accompanied by a term that says specifically which part of the body a person is shaking, as in I celebrated my big win with a shoulder shimmy. The plural of shimmy is shimmies. Example: The singer shimmied along with the back-up dancers during the guitar solo.
Etymology
Origin of shimmy
First recorded in 1830–40 shimmy for def. 3; 1915–20 shimmy for def. 1; back formation and respelling of chemise, construed as a plural
Vocabulary lists containing shimmy
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.
You could walk through a grocery store, hear “Billie Jean” playing over the sound system, and shimmy your shoulders, feeling slightly less guilty than you might’ve during the aughts.
From Salon • Apr. 25, 2026
"I was just trying to shimmy out from under the covers... in my mind, going, 'Is this really happening? This is so bizarre'."
From BBC • Jan. 15, 2026
Days later, he broke out Olajuwon’s signature close-range shimmy, known as the “Dream Shake.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 21, 2025
“Thinking about it in an abstract way helps me shimmy my feathers for the coins.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 9, 2025
The heat rippling off the dead-calm water made the lighthouse seem to flutter and shimmy in the distance.
From "Flush" by Carl Hiaasen
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.
