watusi
watusi noun: a popular African-inspired dance of the 1960s, fueled by the success of the song The Wah-Watusi by The Orlons in 1962.
Noun (1)
watusi (plural watusis)
- A popular African-inspired dance of the 1960s, fueled by the success of the song The Wah-Watusi by The Orlons in 1962.
- Twist it in the alley
With long tall Sally
Twistin' with Lucy
Doin' the watusi.1962, “Land of a Thousand Dances”, Chris Kenner (lyrics), performed by Chris Kenner
- Twist it in the alley
- A Christmas firework popular in the Philippines, made with yellow phosphorus, potassium chlorate, potassium nitrate, and trinitrotoluene.
Verb
watusi (third-person singular simple present watusis, present participle watusiing, simple past and past participle watusied)
- To dance the watusi.
- […] but in the middle of it all will be some preposterous, highly charged, not to mention boob-driven image of some chick watusiing away atop an oil rig.2005, Jimmy McDonough, Big bosoms and square jaws: the biography of Russ Meyer, king of the sex film
Noun (2) capitalized: Watusi
Watusi (plural Watusis or Watusi)
- A member of a Bantu-speaking people living in Rwanda and Burundi; the Tutsi.
- A cow of a modern American breed.
- Watusis are recommended for crossing (with Longhorns) to obtain good roping cattle for the rodeo.1995, Marleen Felius, Cattle Breeds: An Encyclopedia, page 759
- Converted vehicle stopped in Nebraska with gigantic-horned Watusi bovine called Howdy Doody as passenger[.]2023 August 31, “US driver pulled over with huge African bull riding shotgun in car”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
- Alternative form of watusi (“1960s dance”).
- Baby, baby, that's the way it goes
Nothing happens when you Mash Potatoes
I just gotta fall in love with you
Watusi is the dance to do
Wah-a, wah, wah-a Watusi
C'mon and take a chance and get-a with this dance.1962, “The Wah-Watusi”, Kal Mann and Dave Appell (lyrics), performed by The Orlons - Like I figure it would be best at that point to break for a fifteen minute Frug or Watusi.1965 September 10, The Australian Jewish Herald, page 5, column 4
- Baby, baby, that's the way it goes
Forms of watusi
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | watusis |
| plural | Watusis |
| plural | Watusi |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | watusis |
| present participle | watusiing |
| past participle | watusied |
| past | watusied |
Words formed from watusi
Questions about watusi
- What does watusi mean?
- Watusi means a popular African-inspired dance of the 1960s, fueled by the success of the song The Wah-Watusi by The Orlons in 1962.
- What part of speech is watusi?
- Watusi can be a noun or a verb.
- What is the plural of watusi?
- The plural of watusi is watusis.
Words near watusi in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: watusi (page history and authors); Watusi (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “watusi.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/watusi. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.