cakewalk

C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ˈkeɪkˌwɔk/ UK /ˈkeɪkˌwɔːk/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
something easily accomplished; a strutting dance of African American origin

After months of training, the final exam was a cakewalk.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · something easily... breeze pushover picnicwalkoversnap doddle cinch

Opposites

ordeal struggle challenge

Word family

Related forms cake walk

Etymology

A compound of cake + walk, from a 19th-century African American contest in which the couple with the most graceful strutting walk won a cake; the 'easy task' sense derives from the leisurely strut.

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# cakewalk

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈkeɪkˌwɔk/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈkeɪkˌwɔːk/

## Meanings
1. something easily accomplished; a strutting dance of African American origin

## Examples
- After months of training, the final exam was a cakewalk.

## Synonyms
- breeze
- pushover
- picnic
- walkover
- snap
- doddle
- cinch

## Antonyms
- ordeal
- struggle
- challenge

## Related Forms
- cake
- walk

## Etymology
A compound of cake + walk, from a 19th-century African American contest in which the couple with the most graceful strutting walk won a cake; the 'easy task' sense derives from the leisurely strut.

## AI Etymology
Cakewalk is a noun meaning "something easily accomplished; a strutting dance of African American origin". Historically, it is a compound of cake + walk, from a 19th-century African American contest in which the couple with the most graceful strutting walk won a cake; the 'easy task' sense derives from the leisurely strut. The visible construction is part of the etymology: cakewalk is not just an unanalyzed simple word. The semantic history matters here: the earlier use is the starting point, and the modern sense, "something easily accomplished; a strutting dance of African American origin", is the later or specialized English value. Close English family members include cake, and walk.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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