lucha libre

English

lucha libre competitors Hijo De Santo and Blue Demon Jr. in 2008

Etymology

From Spanish lucha libre.

Noun

lucha libre (uncountable)

1. A style of professional wrestling originating in Mexico, often featuring costumed fighters.
   • 2009, Laura Barberena, “Lucha Libre”, in Barry Brummett, editor, Sporting Rhetoric: Performance, Games, and Politics, page 157:

     What exactly is Lucha Libre? Some liken it to professional wrestling in the United States. Indeed, Lucha Libre does share some similarities with America’s World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

   • 2011, Xavier Garza, Maximilian & the Mystery of the Guardian Angel, →ISBN, page 22:

     My mother has the exact same opinion as Lalo, an opinion she’s already made abundantly clear to me. She is NOT a fan of lucha libre. She calls it a barbaric and ridiculous sport.

   • 2019 September 17, Justin Barrasso, “Mexico’s Superheroes: How Lucha Libre Came to Grip the United States”, in Sports Illustrated‎^[1], archived from the original on 2019-09-23:

     When the Young Bucks wrestled Pentagón and Fénix in a thrilling “Escalera De La Muerte” match on AEW’s “All Out” pay-per-view in August, the encounter was less a match and more an exclamation point on a revolution, the result of lucha libre’s impact in the United States.

Further reading

• Lucha libre on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Spanish

Etymology

Literally, “free fight”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌlut͡ʃa ˈlibɾe/ [ˌlu.t͡ʃa ˈli.β̞ɾe]
• Syllabification: lu‧cha li‧bre

Noun

lucha libre f (uncountable)

1. (martial arts) freestyle wrestling, including professional wrestling

Hypernyms

• deporte de combate
• deporte sangriento

Further reading

• “lucha libre”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28