charivari

American  

[shiv-uh-ree, shiv-uh-ree, shuh-riv-uh-ree, shahr-uh-vahr-ee] / ˌʃɪv əˈri, ˈʃɪv əˌri, ʃəˌrɪv əˈri, ˌʃɑr əˈvɑr i /

Also chivaree,

noun

plural

charivaris, charivaried, charivariing

1. a variant of shivaree.

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charivari British  

/ ˌʃɑːrɪˈvɑːrɪ /

noun

1. a discordant mock serenade to newlyweds, made with pans, kettles, etc

2. a confused noise; din

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Etymology

Origin of charivari

< French, Middle French, of obscure origin; said to be < Late Latin carībaria headache < Greek karēbaría, equivalent to karē-, combining form of kárā, kárē head + -baria ( bar ( ys ) heavy + -ia -ia ), on the hypothesis that such a noisy procession would cause a headache

Example Sentences

He, in turn, had saved his earnings as a stock boy at the now-defunct Upper West Side clothing store Charivari to buy the men’s sweater version of the dress, which he wore with white trousers.

From New York Times • Feb. 10, 2020

I got a job at Charivari clothing store near 86 St. in '83 I believe.

From New York Times • Apr. 20, 2018

EB White said of Punch – originally launched in 1841, and subtitled the London Charivari – that it was "as British as vegetable marrow", and that it constituted a legislature in its own right.

From The Guardian • Jun. 4, 2010

Charivari In the Marengo Valley near Ashland, Wis., one Arvo Juoni, Finnish farmer, took a bride, remained with her at the farmhouse of her father, John Peterson, for a quiet, peaceful honeymoon.

From Time Magazine Archive

What the advent of La Caricature did for French comic art was done for England by the birth of Punch, the "London Charivari," on July 17, 1841.

From The History of the Nineteenth Century in Caricature by Cooper, Frederic Taber