Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
noun
A genre of music that blends rhythm and blues and soul music with Cuban-style rhythms, originating in the United States in the 1960s.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A style of dance to this music, popular in the 1960s.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A piece of music, or an instance of dancing, in or of this style.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A type of freestyle, improvisational street dance incorporating soulful steps and robotic movements, originally danced to funk and disco, but later more commonly to hip-hop.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A sequel or repetition of events, etc. Often used to mock a lack of creativity.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Internet, countable, humorous, uncountable
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A hypothetical second American Civil War, in which far-right or antigovernment activists rise up against the government.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Internet, US, countable, uncountable
Topics: government, politics
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A black person.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, dated, derogatory, possibly, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To dance in this style.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Attested as a style of dance since at least January 1966 (and found in the titles of many songs around that time), perhaps from boogie (for the ending, compare crackaloo, hullabaloo). (Compare Spanish bugalú, the Spanish name for the style of music and dance.) Kent Harris used the stage name "Boogaloo" in the 1950s. The sense "sequel or repetition" refers to the title of Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984), a sequel which was considered to be so bad it became a cult classic. Compare the sense "black person" to boogalee, a term for a Cajun, attested since 1960 or earlier.
