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.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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shimmysimple
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shimmiessimple
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have shimmiedperfect
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has shimmiedperfect
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am shimmyingprogressive
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are shimmyingprogressive
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is shimmyingprogressive
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have been shimmyingperfect progressive
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has been shimmyingperfect progressive
Past
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shimmiedsimple
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had shimmiedperfect
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was shimmyingprogressive
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were shimmyingprogressive
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had been shimmyingperfect progressive
Future
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.
See Examples For:
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
Fittingly for a story about fighting inhumanity with full-bodied self-expression, the choreography is shot in long, wide takes that capture every dip, shimmy and spin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 31, 2025
This shift in weight only aggravated the larger problem, and the shimmy grew stronger.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
In space, Elio stumbles across adorable skeletons and shimmies through gacky pipes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2025
An electric knifefish shimmies in the water for the same reason a dog sniffs or a human glances around a new place -- to make sense of their surroundings.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2023
Keitel nails the melted-chocolate quality of the rocker’s voice and delivers a full-throated portrayal of an over-the-hill King, complete with hip thrusts and shoulder shimmies.
From New York Times ● Jun. 27, 2022
That said, you’ll want your eyes on the screen whenever the actor T. J. Atoms impishly shimmies into frame as Russell Jones, who will grow up to be Ol’ Dirty Bastard.
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 1, 2019
Their conversation is like a gently wicked dance: sound meets sound, curtsies, shimmies, and retires.
From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison
In the video, Barrymore showed off her playful side as she shimmied around her mobile living space, while giving fans a tour of its humble amenities—all while singer Enya’s “Caribbean Blue” played in the background.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026
Channeling the music like a crazed shaman, Jagger shimmied and sashayed, owning the stage like few lead singers have before or since.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 20, 2026
When Mom thought the oil was close, she would flick a little flour into it, and if it sizzled and shimmied just right, she knew it was ready.
From Salon ● Apr. 1, 2025
But a fellow concert-goer who shimmied into the shot has been targeted by a string of negative comments online about her behaviour and appearance after Kelley posted a video of the moment.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2024
For one whole semester the streetcars and I shimmied up and scooted down the sheer hills of San Francisco.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
Passengers were shimmying in practically every nook and cranny in the auditorium.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026
Nearby, Julia Buteux’s three-dimensional installation of transparent fabric panels hang from the ceiling, shimmying in the air and inviting guests to walk around it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2026
Around her, dancers of all ages shook their hips to Arabic music, shimmying barefoot as a woman with a neck tattoo played the derbake, a traditional drum.
From Barron's ● Nov. 10, 2025
I’d boogie to “Boogie Fever,” clap to “Born To Be Alive” and sashay to “I Will Survive,” inches from shimmying into the La-Z-Boy or Travolta-armsing our Airedale.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2024
He was enchanted by the girl’s shimmying head and his own easier name and the promise of mud puddles.
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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.
