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

charivaris plural

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

I learned about charivari, a folk custom in France in which people mock-serenaded weddings they disapproved of, adding to the proceedings “the stench of a donkey carcass being burned.”

From Slate • Jul. 13, 2020

Young people also expressed their opinion of the moral conduct of elders, in traditions known as charivari or "rough music".

From BBC • Mar. 23, 2014

It is what the  charivari of outraged Usenet  denizens  did  to  Portal and Internet Direct as vengeance, swamping the servers with furious mail and big, capacity-consuming image files.

From Scientific American • Jun. 20, 2013

This meeting, and a similar one the next night in nearby San Benito, where 153 professed Democrats bolted their party, were the latest instances of a new sort of Texas political charivari: the "resignation rally."

From Time Magazine Archive

The Louvre of the Esthetic Eye; the abattoir of the Religious Eye; the charivari of the Ironic Eye.

From The Roycroft Dictionary Concocted by Ali Baba and the Bunch on Rainy Days. by Hubbard, Elbert