celebrant
Americannoun
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celebrants
plural
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a participant in any celebration.
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the officiating priest in the celebration of the Eucharist.
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a participant in a public religious rite.
noun
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a person participating in a religious ceremony
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Christianity an officiating priest, esp at the Eucharist
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of celebrant
1830–40; < Latin celebrant- (stem of celebrāns present participle of celebrāre to solemnize, celebrate), equivalent to celebr- ( see celebrate) + -ant- -ant
Explanation
Someone who's celebrating a happy event is a celebrant. The celebrant, sometimes with the help of friends or family, is the person who gets to blow out the candles on the birthday cake. You can use celebrant to mean the person being honored at a celebration, or everyone who's participating in it: "The New Year's Eve celebrants cheered as the clock struck midnight." The original meaning of this noun, and the one still most common outside of North America, is "someone who officiates," either at a wedding or a religious service. Celebrant comes from the Latin word celebrare, "assemble to honor."
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.
See Examples For:
The detective is one of half a dozen or so dignitaries attending the simple 10-minute long ceremony, led by Durham County Council celebrant Gemma Dobson.
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2026
The retired wedding celebrant had never invested before, but decided to put £1,000 into the scheme.
From BBC ● Mar. 4, 2026
I recall a Mass during the Reagan years in which the celebrant told the congregation at great length that nuclear war would be a Very Bad Thing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 24, 2025
Straight offers their grief and work much as a celebrant holds up a sacrifice, for all to see and contemplate.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2025
Within the crowd she saw Kaisa, the sole unmasked celebrant, turn back to look at her, and it was as if another world was laid over the one she was in.
From "Ash" by Malinda Lo
And celebrants can't legally marry people at all.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Some Fourth of July celebrants wanted to talk about anything but politics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026
In Massachusetts, St. Patrick’s Day celebrants took to Irish pubs on wheels.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 18, 2026
It’s a reality at the heart of Thanksgiving, when celebrants pass anecdotes around the table as freely as the cornbread dressing and pumpkin pie.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025
Makeshift confetti snowed from windows onto the celebrants in the streets below.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
