cakewalk means A contest in which cake was offered for the best dancers. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 80 out of 100.
cakewalk is pronounced /ˈkeɪk.wɔk/.
Why “cakewalk” is a great word
CAKEWALK — [Noun] A competitive strutting dance of African-American origin, historically performed for a prize of cake, later an idiom for an effortless task. From cake (a sweet baked dessert) + walk (the act of walking). The term originates from 19th-century African-American dance competitions on plantations, where the best performers would win a cake. First attested in 1863. Unlike a "waltz," a formal European ballroom dance, or a "breeze," a casual term for ease devoid of history, "cakewalk" carries the indelible friction of its origin—a performance of elegance and satire born from bondage. It is the precise, mocking exaggeration of a genteel promenade, the triumphant claim of a hard-won dessert, and the linguistic residue of a contest that was anything but simple—a word where the memory of strain is baked into the promise of ease.
Etymology
From cake + walk. Originally an African-American form of dance and music that developed after the Civil War, later popularised by minstrel shows. It was danced at social events, with the best dancers often receiving cake as a prize. It derives from dance competitions by plantation slaves in which the style of dance lampooned the ballroom dances of the slaveowners. Slaveowners seem to have found the competitions entertaining and the habit of offering cake may originate from this period. The name is sometimes also applied to the dance's precursor on the plantations. Doing the cakewalk well required virtuosity, and a major aesthetic aspect of that virtuosity was the apparent ease with which the dance was performed. This gave rise to the idiom as easy as a cakewalk, which in turn led to the se
noun
- A contest in which cake was offered for the best dancers.
- The style of music associated with such a contest.
- The dance, or strutting style of dance, associated with such a contest.
- Something that is easy or simple, or that does not present a great challenge.“Just as common as she is, a cakewalk sort of a name.”
verb
- To perform the cakewalk dance.