Bacchanalia
Americannoun
plural
Bacchanalia, Bacchanalias-
(sometimes used with a plural verb) a festival in honor of Bacchus.
-
(lowercase) a drunken feast; orgy.
plural noun
-
(often capital) orgiastic rites associated with Bacchus
-
any drunken revelry
Other Word Forms
- bacchanalian adjective
- bacchanalianism noun
Etymology
Origin of Bacchanalia
1625–35; < Latin equivalent to Bacch ( us ) + -ān ( us ) -an + -ālia, neuter plural of -ālis -al 1; probably modeled on volcānālia. See Saturnalia
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
While fatherhood has slowed my nightlife habits, judging by the gondola banter of a quintet of seasonal employees regaling the night prior’s exploits, the Bacchanalia is back.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 13, 2023
At Bacchanalia, the emphasis is on freshness, and the restaurant uses all organic ingredients, many of which are sourced from the owner's personal farm.
From Time • Aug. 17, 2017
A 19th-century account found it to offer a “sort of Bacchanalia, to gratify the multitudes in their wandering and irregular thoughts.”
From New York Times • Jun. 27, 2014
Invited over by May to watch one of the city's huge, unobstructed sunsets, Binelli finds not an Ibiza-style Bacchanalia but May and friends sitting on folding chairs on the pavement, drinking from plastic cups.
From The Guardian • Jan. 4, 2013
His mother might only have gone to one of her bowling Bacchanalia.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
