fandango

noun

fan·​dan·​go fan-ˈdaŋ-(ˌ)gō How to pronounce fandango (audio)
plural fandangos
1
: a lively Spanish or Spanish-American dance in triple time that is usually performed by a man and a woman to the accompaniment of guitar and castanets
also : music for this dance
2
: tomfoolery

Examples of fandango in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
For fans of Latin jazz and socially stirring music of any kind, this fandango should be hard to match. — George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 June 2022 Lia Cirio as street dancer Mercedes and Tigran Mkrtchyan as matador Espada smoldered in the fandango. — Jeffrey Gantz, BostonGlobe.com, 17 Mar. 2023 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass The best free music fandango in — well, arguably — the entire world returns to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. — Jim Harrington, The Mercury News, 16 Sep. 2024 This summer, for instance, the Fourth of July fandango will take place in Camden, New Jersey, not all that far from where the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia. — Michael Barnes, Austin American-Statesman, 21 Apr. 2024 The New Orleans brass band institution returns to San Francisco for its second consecutive NYE fandango at the SFJAZZ Center. — Jim Harrington, Mercury News, 15 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Spanish

First Known Use

1770, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of fandango was in 1770

Rhymes for fandango

See All Rhymes for fandango

Browse Nearby Words

fandangle
fandango
F and D
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Fandango.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fandango. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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Kids Definition

fandango

noun
fan·​dan·​go fan-ˈdaŋ-gō How to pronounce fandango (audio)
plural fandangos
: a lively Spanish or Spanish-American dance

More from Merriam-Webster on fandango

Nglish: Translation of fandango for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about fandango

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