Home › Glossary › Letter C

Conga

Dance
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A festive line dance in which dancers move together to a strong rhythm.

Detailed Definition
The conga is a social dance, associated especially with Cuba, in which dancers form a line and move in a repeating rhythmic pattern, often with hands on the waist or shoulders of the person ahead. In poetry, it can represent collective momentum, carnival energy, or a crowd temporarily joined by music. Its onward motion may become comic or urgent, carrying individual speakers into a communal rhythm they cannot entirely control.
Example
Example in poetry:
“We crossed the avenue in conga, shoulders linked against the rain” uses the line dance to show shared momentum; A poet may describe “a conga of bright boats” moving one behind another along a river; “The children made a conga through the kitchen” captures spontaneous celebration in a domestic scene; A political poem can use a conga line as an image of solidarity, procession, or carnival resistance
Additional Notes
The Conga is a festive line dance in which participants move together in a rhythmic chain. It can signify collective joy, parade-like momentum, carnival, or the way individual bodies become part of a larger communal rhythm.
Other Meanings of “Conga”
Also Known As
Conga Line
Skip to main content