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Glite Dictionary
💃 To walk proudly 🐎 To step lively
to prance

to prance

1 5.0
To move with high bouncy steps like a horse
  • verb
  • /præns/
: pavonearse
  • With excitement, the young girl watched the pony prance around the ring during the competition.
  • pranced with a horse
  • pranced with a colt
  • pranced across the stage

Like I think this whole thing looks very like prancing through the vineyards in France in late summer.

Examples

  • Its eyes rolled, and it pranced nervously as attendants fought to keep it under control.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Still, they were worried about their son, for one warrior kept prancing his horse near Tom as though to challenge him.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • I can make him prance.

    The Boss Baby: Family Business (2021)

  • A woman in a Big Bird costume pranced out onto the stage to provide everyone with a special funny surprise.

    Blog text (2)

  • Two men led a prancing beast by a pair of lines attached somehow to its mouth.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • And there, prancing and pawing the spongy ground

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Moxica, astride a magnificent black horse, prances back and forth across the sand.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • One horse is walking, and the white one is prancing and shying in an unruly manner while her rider fights desperately for control.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • The young stallion reared and neighed, then pranced and pivoted in erratic circles.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • The horse began to prance happily as it approached its owner in the field.

Synonyms

to prance around
vsto prance
  • Informal
18 4.1

To move with high, lively steps in a playful way

is general high springy stepping rather than specifically moving around
to curvet
vsto prance
  • Specialized
1 9.9

To leap or prance so a horse's back legs leave the ground before its front legs land

is regular high springy stepping without the specific hind leg leap

Antonyms

to plod
12 5.5

To walk slowly with heavy steps because you are tired

Phrasal Verbs

to prance around
  • Informal
18 4.1

To move with high, lively steps in a playful way

How Energetic

to gallop
33 1.9
canter
  • Specialized
3 6.5
to prance
1 5.0
trot
20 1.6
walk
  • Specialized
4 5.6

Surface Forms

prance infinitive
pranced past
pranced past participle
prancing present participle
prances third person singular

Etymology

Prance likely began as a word that imitated a horse's bright, springy steps, the kind of movement a young horse does when it is full of energy. So when a horse or rider prances, they move with high, lively steps that show spirit and confidence.