moonwalk

English

A graphic of a figure moonwalking (sense 2)

Etymology

From Moon +‎ walk.

• (backslide): Coined by Michael Jackson in 1983, when popularizing the backslide and renaming it.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmuːnwɔːk/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmunwɔk/

Noun

moonwalk (plural moonwalks)

2. An exploration of the Moon's surface on foot by an astronaut.
4. (dance) A dance move in which the dancer slides backwards though the feet move as if walking forwards; the backslide.
6. (dance) A dance style in which the dancer appears to be moving in a low gravity environment.
   • 2012 May 15, Scott Tobias, “Film: Reviews: The Dictator”, in The Onion AV Club‎^[1]:

     Though the idea of placing wacky made-up characters in a real-life context was carried over from Da Ali G Show—wherein Buzz Aldrin was once asked if he was upset that Michael Jackson got all the credit for inventing the moonwalk—Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat felt like something new, an attempt to square an improvised, guerrilla style of underground comedy with reality-TV stunt shows like Jackass or Fear Factor.

Hypernyms

• (exploration of the Moon on foot): extravehicular activity
• (dance style): dance

Translations

exploration

• Finnish: kuukävely
• Italian: passeggiata lunare f

dance style

• Arabic: مِشْيَة الْقَمَرِ f (mišya(t) al-qamari)
• Armenian: լուսնային քայլվածք (lusnayin kʻaylvackʻ)
• Azerbaijani: ay gəzişi
• Bulgarian: лунна походка f (lunna pohodka)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 太空舞 (taai³ hung¹ mou⁵)

  Mandarin: 月球漫步 (yuèqiú mànbù), 太空漫步 (zh) (tàikōng mànbù), 滑步 (huábù)

• Dutch: moonwalk m
• Esperanto: lunpaŝado
• Finnish: moonwalk
• French: moonwalk (fr) m
• German: Moonwalk m
• Greek: μούνγουοκ n (moúngouok), φεγγαροπερπάτημα f (fengaroperpátima)
• Italian: moonwalk (it) m
• Japanese: ムーンウォーク (mūnwōku), ムーンウオーク (mūn'uōku)
• Korean: 문워크 (munwokeu)
• Lithuanian: mėnulio eisena f
• Malayalam: മൂൺവാക്ക് (mūṇvākkŭ)
• Persian: مون‌واک (mun-vâk)
• Portuguese: moonwalk m
• Russian: лу́нная похо́дка f (lúnnaja poxódka), скольже́ние наза́д n (skolʹžénije nazád), глайд (ru) m (glajd)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: месечев хо̑д m

  Roman: mesečev hȏd m

• Thai: มูนวอล์ก (muun-wɔ̂ɔk)
• Ukrainian: мі́сячна хода́ f (mísjačna xodá), ковза́ння наза́д f (kovzánnja nazád)
• Vietnamese: moonwalk

Verb

moonwalk (third-person singular simple present moonwalks, present participle moonwalking, simple past and past participle moonwalked)

1. (intransitive) To walk on the surface of the Moon.
2. (intransitive) To walk in leaps, like on the Moon or on other low gravity surfaces.
3. (intransitive, dance) To perform the moonwalk.
4. (intransitive) To walk in a manner that is similar to the moonwalk dance style; to move while sliding backwards as though the feet move as if one was walking forwards.
   • 2022 October 16, Jenna Scherer, “An enticing House Of The Dragon crowns Westeros' new ruler”, in AV Club‎^[2]:

     Alicent’s crew intercede and try to grab the prince for themselves, Aemond restraining his fleeing brother while Criston crosses swords with Cargyll 1. That’s when Cargyll 2 moonwalks away, realizing that he wants no part of this royal shitshow.

Derived terms

• moonrun
• moonwalker

Translations

to moonwalk dance

• Dutch: moonwalken
• Portuguese: fazer moonwalk

Dutch

Etymology

From English moonwalk.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmun.ʋɔ(l)k/, /ˈmun.ʋɑ(l)k/

Noun

moonwalk m (plural moonwalken, diminutive moonwalkje n)

1. (dance) moonwalk

Derived terms

• moonwalken

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English moonwalk

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˌmũˈwɔw.ki/ [ˌmũˈwɔʊ̯.ki], /ˌmũˈwɔwk/ [ˌmũˈwɔʊ̯k]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˌmũˈwɔw.ki/ [ˌmũˈwɔʊ̯.ki], /ˌmũˈwɔwk/ [ˌmũˈwɔʊ̯k]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˌmũˈwɔwk/ [ˌmũˈwɔʊ̯k], /ˌmũˈwɔw.ki/ [ˌmũˈwɔʊ̯.ki]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˌmunˈwɔlk/ [ˌmunˈwɔɫk]

• Rhymes: -ɔwki, -ɔlki
• Hyphenation: moon‧walk

Noun

moonwalk m (invariable)

1. (dance) moonwalk

   fazer o moonwalk ― to moonwalk

Related terms

• moonwalker

Further reading

• “moonwalk”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2024