cakewalk
cakewalk Lexical Profile
cakewalk Game Scores & Validity
• noun
An absurdly easy task, competition, or achievement that requires very little effort.
"After months of rigorous preparation, the final certification exam turned out to be a cakewalk."
North American A carnival or fundraising game in which participants walk in a circle around numbered squares while music plays, winning a cake if their square's number is drawn when the music stops.
"The elementary school autumn fair featured a popular cakewalk in the gymnasium."
American A 19th-century African American promenade dance characterized by high-stepping, strutting movements, originally performed in competitions where a cake was awarded as the prize.
"Ragtime music grew closely alongside the popularity of the cakewalk in late nineteenth-century American theater."
• verb
To progress or succeed effortlessly through a contest, task, or challenge.
"The defending champions cakewalked through the opening rounds of the tournament."
American To perform the cakewalk dance or move with a strutting, high-stepping gait.
"The dancers cakewalked across the stage to the lively rhythm of the brass band."
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in mid-19th-century American English, the term originated from a tradition on southern plantations in which enslaved African Americans performed a stylized, high-stepping promenade dance, with the most graceful couple winning a cake as a prize.