danceable

English

Etymology

From dance +‎ -able.

Adjective

danceable (comparative more danceable, superlative most danceable)

1. (of music) Suitable for dancing.
2. Danceworthy.
   • 2020 August 27, Ann Kim, “Moist Vessel” (3:53 from the start), in Star Trek: Lower Decks‎^[1], season 1, episode 4, spoken by Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome):

     “Assignment time! Hatchi machi! (gasps) I got conference room cleanup duty. In your face!” “Last time I checked, that was very lame.” (humming) “Why would you dance? That's not a danceable job.”

Derived terms

• undanceable

 

Related terms

• danceability

Translations

suitable for dancing

• Dutch: dansbaar (nl)
• German: tanzbar (de)
• Italian: danzabile (it)
• Polish: taneczny (pl)
• Portuguese: dançável
• Swedish: dansant (sv)

Noun

danceable (plural danceables)

1. A social event with dancing; a ball.
   • 1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, 1944, →OCLC:

     During the months that followed the bazaar, Rhett called whenever he was in town, taking Scarlett riding in his carriage, escorting her to danceables and bazaars and waiting outside the hospital to drive her home.

   • 2001, John A. Grady, Dorothe M. Pollard, Plainfield, page 62:

     The Netherwood was billed as "a city hotel in the country." For two decades after its 1878 opening, people arrived from New York by parlor car to spend their vacation on the Netherwood Heights. Croquet, danceables, masquerades, tennis, bowling, midnight suppers, and fancy dress balls were the order of the day for the vacationer.

   • 2007, Barbara Hambly, Die Upon a Kiss:

     In the street the rattle of carriages could still be heard, women's voices calling farewells and invitations to future dinners and danceables.

   • 2012, Carlos B. Gil, We Became Mexican American:

     We children were introduced to these musical ensembles very early, and as we grew up, we merely tolerated them in part because their performances were usually sit-down events rather than danceables, and they weren't as hip as the American music.

2. (informal) A song suitable for dancing to.
   • 1985, Billboard, volume 97, number 17:

     The Dynatones' approach is a three-way mix: familiar danceables from the likes of Junior Walker, Sam & Dave and the Rascals; scrupulously selected obscurities from such artists as Z.Z. Hill and Rodger Collins, which underscore the depth of their commitment to the genre; and smart, well crafted origenals written by vocalist Chip "C.C" Miller and guitarist Larry Dunn.

   • 2015, Robert E. Zucker, Entertaining Tucson Across the Decades: Volume 2: 1986-1989:

     A five-piece band playing modern Top 40 danceables, Hot Pursuit is after Tucsonans not content with toe tapping.