noun

twerking

TWURK-ing

Twerking (noun) means a dance move performed by thrusting and shaking the hips and buttocks rapidly, usually in a low squat, often while facing away from the viewer. Example: “The clip of her twerking went viral within hours.”

noun

informal A dance move performed by thrusting and shaking the hips and buttocks rapidly, usually in a low squat, often while facing away from the viewer.

"The clip of her twerking went viral within hours."

"Twerking has roots in West African and Caribbean dance traditions."

verb

informal Present participle of twerk: to dance in this way.

"They were twerking on the bar by midnight."

"He tried twerking and pulled something."

How to use twerking

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishA dance where you squat down and shake your bum fast.

When to use it

Informal but not vulgar, and now standard in entertainment reporting. The verb is regular: twerk, twerked, twerking.

Memory tip

The verb is intransitive — you twerk, you do not twerk something.

Trace the full origin ↓

Easily confused with

grinding → booty shaking daggering perreo

Common pairings

start twerking twerking video twerking competition learn to twerk

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Etymology

From the verb twerk, which arose in the New Orleans bounce music scene around 1990. The word is generally taken to be a blend of twist or twitch with jerk, though the derivation is not settled.

Origin: English

Synonyms

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booty shaking

Rhymes for twerking

jerking

See all rhymes for twerking →

Frequently asked questions

Where did twerking come from?

The move as named emerged in the New Orleans bounce scene around 1990, but the underlying dance vocabulary of isolated hip and buttock movement is much older, with clear antecedents in West African dances such as mapouka and in Caribbean forms. It reached mainstream Western attention in the 2010s, largely through music videos and awards-show performances.

Is twerking the same as booty shaking?

Booty shaking is the broad description; twerking is a specific technique within it, involving a low squat and a rhythmic push-and-release of the hips rather than simply shaking. All twerking is booty shaking, but not the reverse.

Why is twerking controversial?

Two arguments run alongside each other. One is about sexual explicitness in public and on television. The other, made by many Black commentators, is about cultural appropriation — that the dance was dismissed as vulgar when performed by Black women and then treated as playful and marketable when adopted by white pop stars.

What is the meaning of twerking?

"twerking" (noun) means a dance move performed by thrusting and shaking the hips and buttocks rapidly, usually in a low squat, often while facing away from the viewer.