piñata

[pin-yah-tuh, pee-nyah-tah]

noun

plural

piñatas 

1. (in Mexico and Central America) colorful papier-mâché figure or cheerfully decorated crock filled with toys, candy, etc., and suspended from above, especially during Christmas or birthday festivities, so that children, who are blindfolded, may break it or knock it down with sticks and release the contents.

piñata

/ ˌpɪnˈjata /

noun

1. a papier-mâché party decoration filled with sweets, hung up during parties, and struck with a stick until it breaks open

Word History and Origins

Origin of piñata¹

1885–90; < Spanish: literally, pot < Italian pignatta, probably derivative of dial. pigna pinecone (from the pot's shape) < Latin pīnea, noun use of feminine of pīneus of the pine tree; pine ¹, -eous

Word History and Origins

Origin of piñata¹

Spanish, from Italian pignatta , probably from dialect pigna , from Latin pinea pine cone

Example Sentences

The Dodgers somehow concealed their piñata of a bullpen in the three previous rounds of the postseason, but that bullpen is now catching up with them.

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For more than two centuries, the United States has treated Latin America as its personal piñata, bashing it silly for goods and not caring about the ugly aftermath.

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He met the woman he calls his esposa, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation, at the second job he worked in the Piñata District.

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It's like a piñata at the end of a kids party – it doesn't matter how many times you hit it, you're not going to get much more out of it.

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Perry said she felt like a “human pinata.”

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