sashay

English

Etymology

Verlan (or metathesis) form of French chassé, past participle of chasser (“chase”), from Latin captō, frequentative of capiō (“I take”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈsæʃeɪ/, /sæˈʃeɪ/
Audio (US) (file)
Homophone: sachet
Rhymes: -æʃeɪ, -eɪ

Noun

sashay (plural sashays)

A chassé.
A sequence of sideways steps in a circle in square dancing.

Verb

sashay (third-person singular simple present sashays, present participle sashaying, simple past and past participle sashayed)

(intransitive) To walk casually, showily or in a flirty manner; to strut, swagger or flounce.
- 1906 April, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “The Brief Début Of Tildy”, in The Four Million, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co, OCLC 1399985:
  “Fresh guy,” explained Aileen, “last night as I was going home at Twenty-third and Sixth. Sashayed up, so he did, and made a break. I turned him down, cold, and he made a sneak; […]
- 1915, Jack London, The Star Rover‎:
  Some time, when they shift some decent guards on us that will give us a peep at a newspaper, you get yourself thrown into the jacket, climb out of your body, and sashay down to little old ’Frisco.
- 1959, Truman Capote, Observations. Photographs by Richard Avedon. Comments by Truman Capote., page 18:
  It does amuse to remember the fadeout road of Chaplin's silent days, the empty dusty vista down which, at the end of every adventure, the little bum recedingly sashayed, knapsack aboard.
- 1994, Walter Dean Myers, The Glory Field, →ISBN, page 80:
  Goldie pulled her skirts up in front of her, gave Elijah a look over her shoulder, and sashayed away.
- 2022 October 15, Zoe Williams, “Love Island winner Ekin-Su on sex, spin-offs and surgery […] ”, in The Guardian‎:
  She sashayed into the villa as just another bombshell, but stole the show.
(intransitive) To chassé when dancing.
- 1961, Victor Appleton, Tom Swift and the Electronic Hydrolung‎:
  "Hope I didn't put away too much fried chicken to sashay properly at the square dance," Bud remarked.
(intransitive) To move sideways.
- 2015, Louise Taylor, Papiss Cissé and Jonny Evans spitting row mars Manchester United’s win over Newcastle (in The Guardian, 4 March 2015)
  Games can hinge on the sort of controversial decision made by Taylor in the 10th minute. After Rivière collected Gabriel Obertan’s pass and sashayed beyond Daley Blind he drew the United centre- half into a rash, clumsy challenge but, puzzlingly, Taylor detected no penalty.

Translations

Bulgarian: перча се (perča se)
German: schwingen (de), tänzeln (de)