What does "balalaika" mean?

A plucked stringed instrument with a triangular body, short neck and three strings, of Russian origin.

What is a synonym for "balalaika"?

Common synonyms include: banjo, guitar, lute, mandolin, samisen, sitar.

Pronounced //bæləˈlaɪkə//.

//bæləˈlaɪkə// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A plucked stringed instrument with a triangular body, short neck and three strings, of Russian origin.
2
a stringed instrument that has a triangular body and three strings wordnet

"Tom knows how to play the balalaika."

From Russian балала́йка (balalájka).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.