Dionysiac

[dahy-uh-nis-ee-ak, -nahy-see-]

adjective

1. of or relating to the Dionysia or to Dionysus; Bacchic.

2. Dionysian.

Dionysiac

/ ˌdaɪəˈnɪzɪˌæk /

adjective

1. of or relating to Dionysus or his worship

2. a less common word for Dionysian

Other Word Forms

• Dionysiacally adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of Dionysiac¹

1820–30; < Latin Dionȳsiacus < Greek Dionȳsiakós, equivalent to Diónȳs ( os ) Dionysus + -i- derivative stem vowel + -akos -ac

Example Sentences

“And that, to me, is the terrible seduction of Dionysiac ritual. Hard for us to imagine. That fire of pure being.”

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“Do you remember last fall, in Julian’s class, when we studied what Plato calls telestic madness? Bakcheia? Dionysiac frenzy?”

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And she knows that when characters like those of “Shipwreck” are faced with what seems inexplicable to them, their so-called enlightened minds may find themselves wandering into primal, mythic realms — where there be dragons and demons and amoral Dionysiac gods.

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But for those who love McLean’s music, it’s essential listening; it captures his full, overtone-rich in-concert sound as well as his explosive solos, which, at times, reach a Dionysiac frenzy.

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A marble head of a deity wearing a Dionysiac fillet, from the first century A.D.

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