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Glite Dictionary
belly dancer

belly dancer

3 3.6
A woman who moves her hips and stomach to music in a Middle Eastern style
  • noun
  • /ˈbɛli ˈdænsər/
translation icon : bailarina de danza del vientre
  • A good friend of mine back in Texas is a well-known belly dancer.
  • belly dancer performs
  • see a belly dancer
  • Russian belly dancer

So in his reimagined Gaza on True Social, he has trans belly dancers entertaining everyone.

Examples

  • The festival featured a lively performance by a talented belly dancer who showcased traditional Middle Eastern music.

  • I wanna see my belly dancer again!

    Best Defense (1984)

  • The belly dancer is supposed - to appear tonight.

    Party Girl (1995)

  • When she starts to roll her hips like a belly dancer, Eddie says enough is enough.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • On occasion, she danced as a belly dancer at the Tikka Room in Fort Lauderdale.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • We have amazing poets, slam poetry, singers, an opera singer, rappers, a belly dancer, and even skits being performed.

    Blog text (21)

  • Little Egypt was the first belly dancer to be seen in the USA, and she was packing them in, wriggling her guts in a place that was made to look like a waterfront café in Cairo, Egypt.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • At the wedding, a stunning belly dancer captivated the guests with her graceful movements.

  • During the party, everyone gathered around to watch the belly dancer as she elegantly swayed to the rhythm.

Synonyms

dancer
vsbelly dancer
514 1.0

A person who moves their body to music

is specialized for Middle Eastern torso and hip movements performed by women
exotic belly dancer
vsbelly dancer
7.5

A woman who moves her stomach and hips in a colorful foreign dance to entertain people

is the traditional form without sensual or foreign emphasis

Surface Forms

belly dancer singular
belly dancers plural

Morphology

belly + dancer

The meaning 'a woman who performs belly dance' is directly and compositionally derived from 'belly' (abdomen) + 'dancer' (someone who dances): it denotes a dancer associated with belly/torso movements. This compound follows a common noun+noun pattern and is expressed similarly across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Belly dancer comes from the simple picture of the belly (the middle of the body) moving and the word dancer, a person who dances. So it means 'a woman who performs belly dance', a style that shows rhythmic moves of the torso and hips.