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rhumba

rhumba

7.5
Music with a lively two-beat rhythm for dancing
  • noun
  • /ˈrumbə/
  • UK
translation icon : música de rumba
  • The lively rhumba music filled the dance hall, inviting everyone to join in.

Examples

  • The rhumba played on the radio made it impossible for them to sit still in their seats.

  • These included a rhumba-style band composed of Luanshya policemen, featuring a transvestite lead singer/dancer.

    Academic text (2006)

  • Soon a thickly layered canned orchestra rhumba rhythms through the house.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • My mother and I dance a duet on the swinging bridge, and the old man from the mento band crosses the river, raises his battered violin, and the guitar men come in, and the tempo of the rhumba box is triumphant, and the women from the Church of Zion come in with their drummer.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • She learned to rhumba during her dance classes and now enjoys performing at parties.

Synonyms

rumba
vsrhumba
1 5.4

Lively Cuban music with a strong offbeat rhythm used for dancing

is described as music suitable for dancing rather than only for performance

Surface Forms

rhumba singular
rhumbas plural

Etymology

Rhumba for the music also comes from Cuban Spanish rumba, the 'party' where people played strong, off-beat music for dancing. That's why a rhumba is a style of dance music with a clear rhythm you can move to.