shimmy

\ʃi.mi\

/\ʃi.mi\/ noun

The verdict

“shimmy” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Danse popularisée au cours des années 1920, à la fois comme danse de salon et comme danse de scène dans les revues musicales.

Corpus desk

Index FR-shimmy · shimmy · French

shimmy · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "S" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for shimmy
PropertyValue
Headwordshimmy
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ʃi.mi\
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « shimmy » en français

shimmyreste hors des 100.000 mots français les plus fréquents, dans la longue queue du vocabulaire technique, archaïque ou rare, là où le doute d'orthographe frappe.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

shimmy is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \ʃi.mi\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for shimmy, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is shimmy, spelled S-H-I-M-M-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Danse popularisée au cours des années 1920, à la fois comme danse de salon et comme danse de scène dans les revues musicales.
  2. 2
    Oscillations régulières ressenties dans la direction d’un véhicule.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how shimmy appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. De leur balcon qu’on atteignait par une échelle,, les musiciens déversaient sans répit sur la foule, des airs de valse, de java, de shimmy, de charleston et tout le monde se trémoussait.
  2. C’était l’époque où l’on portait des pantalons étroits en bas et des souliers à bouts pointus pour avoir l’air américain ; mon camarade et moi nous sacrifiions à cette mode et l'une de nos préoccupations était, chorégraphiquement, d’attraper le frémissement d’épaule qui constituait le fin du fin pour danser le shimmy.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "shimmy"?
"shimmy" is spelled S-H-I-M-M-Y. The IPA pronunciation is \ʃi.mi\.
What does "shimmy" mean?
As a noun, "shimmy" means: Danse popularisée au cours des années 1920, à la fois comme danse de salon et comme danse de scène dans les revues musicales.
How do you pronounce "shimmy"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "shimmy" is \ʃi.mi\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "shimmy" come from?
"shimmy" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list