Definition

1. Verb:

   • To walk in a confident, ostentatious, or swaying manner: To move, especially to walk, with a proud, exaggerated, or showy gait, often to attract attention.
   • To move sideways, especially in a gliding or sliding motion: To step or move to the side, often in a dance context.
   • To perform a chassé step in ballet or dance: A specific dance step where one foot displaces the other, creating a gliding movement.

2. Noun:

   • A journey or short excursion taken for pleasure: An informal trip or outing.
   • A sideways gliding step in dancing, especially square dancing or ballet: A specific step where movement is to the side.

Usage Examples

• Verb:

  • She loves to sashay down the hallway as if she's on a fashion runway.
  • The dancers were taught to sashay gracefully to the left during the routine.
  • He sashayed across the ballroom, full of confidence.

• Noun:

  • Our little sashay to the beach was just what we needed.
  • The next part of the dance involves a series of sashays.

Advanced Usage

• "to sashay in/out/through": To enter, exit, or move through a space in a confident, often nonchalant, manner.

  • He simply sashayed into the meeting as if he owned the place.
  • She sashayed out of the room, ignoring everyone.

• "to sashay up to someone": To approach someone with a confident, often flirtatious, swaying walk.

  • He sashayed up to the bar and ordered a drink.

Variants and Related Words

• Chassé (noun/verb): A dance step identical to one meaning of "sashay"; a gliding step in which one foot displaces the other. (This is the technical ballet term).
• Sashaying (gerund/noun): The act of moving in this manner.
  • Her constant sashaying was getting on his nerves.

Synonyms

• Verb (for walking proudly): Strut, swagger, prance, parade.
• Verb (for moving sideways): Glide, slide, sidle, shuffle.
• Noun (for short trip): Excursion, outing, jaunt, foray.

Related Phrasal Verbs / Constructions

(While "sashay" is not typically used with particles to form phrasal verbs, it is commonly followed by prepositions to indicate direction, as shown in the "Advanced Usage" section.)

Related Idioms

• None directly with "sashay": The word itself often carries an idiomatic flair, implying a performance or an attitude in one's movement.

Noun

1. a journey taken for pleasure
   • many summer excursions to the shore
   • it was merely a pleasure trip
   • after cautious sashays into the field
2. (ballet) quick gliding steps with one foot always leading
3. a square dance figure; partners circle each other taking sideways steps

Verb

1. perform a chasse step, in ballet
2. to walk with a lofty proud gait, often in an attempt to impress others
   • He struts around like a rooster in a hen house
3. move sideways