Meanings
- obsoleteuncountableNimble and agile dancing ability; flamboyant and gay dance.
No "light fantastic toe" is required here; only a pair of hard soles and infinite energy.
1925 August 5, The News, Adelaide, page 4, column 41 more example
Sunday is the gayest, merriest, and most convivial day; the violins are playing, their cheering sounds [dismal enough WE think] echo in every house; and the "light fantastic toe" displays its every skill.
1822 June 7, The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, page 2, column 3
Origin
An allusion to John Milton's 1645 lyric poem L’Allegro, specifically the lines: "Com, and trip it as ye go / On the light fantastick toe."
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
light fantastic toe. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/light%20fantastic%20toe
“light fantastic toe.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/light%20fantastic%20toe. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “light fantastic toe,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/light%20fantastic%20toe.
Source: light fantastic toe on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.