bacchanal

[bah-kuh-nahl, bak-uh-nal, bak-uh-nl, bak-uh-nl]

noun

1. a follower of Bacchus.

2. a drunken reveler.

3. an occasion of drunken revelry; orgy; bacchanalia.

   Synonyms: carousal, spree, debauch, saturnalia

adjective

1. pertaining to Bacchus; bacchanalian.

bacchanal

/ ˈbækənəl /

noun

1. a follower of Bacchus

2. a drunken and riotous celebration

3. a participant in such a celebration; reveller

adjective

1. of or relating to Bacchus

Word History and Origins

Origin of bacchanal¹

1530–40; < Latin Bacchānāl, equivalent to Bacch ( us ) + -ānāl, probably as back formation from Bacchānālia; Bacchanalia

Word History and Origins

Origin of bacchanal¹

C16: from Latin Bacchānālis ; see _Bacchus

Example Sentences

There were stories of wild bacchanals involving nudists, and grand parties attended by the likes of artist Andy Warhol, jazz musician Charlie Parker and Nobel laureate physicist Richard Feynman.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

As I write this essay, the mainstream news media has already, for the most part, moved on from Trump’s fantasy and threats of a bacchanal of violence.

Read more on Salon

But, in a stroke of political savvy, Harrison leaned into the image, campaigning from town to town in a kind of roving bacchanal.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

In December, cringing apologies were extracted from Russian celebrities who attended an “almost naked” bacchanal deemed unseemly during wartime.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

As others have observed, Trump’s political rallies fulfill that function as a type of church tent revival, traveling roadshow carnival, and fascist family reunion and bacchanal.

Read more on Salon