fiesta
Americannoun
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fiestas
plural
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any festival or festive celebration.
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(in Spain and Latin America) a festive celebration of a religious holiday.
noun
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a religious festival or celebration, esp on a saint's day
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a holiday or carnival
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of fiesta
1835–45, < Spanish < Latin fēsta; see feast
Explanation
A fiesta is a celebration or a party. Your parents might plan a fiesta to celebrate your high school graduation. You can use the word fiesta for any party, but it usually refers to a large feast, festival, or very extravagant party. In Spanish, fiesta means "feast," and in many Spanish-speaking places, a fiesta celebrates a saint's day or other religious occasion. The word comes from the Latin festus, "festive, joyful, or merry."
Vocabulary lists containing fiesta
Cinco de Mayo: Words to Celebrate Mexico
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Mexico - Introductory
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Mexico - Middle School
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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:
Ten men suffered injuries Tuesday during the eighth and final bull run of Spain's famed San Fermin festival, bringing to 57 the total number of daredevils injured during this year's fiesta.
From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026
ET on Thursday, Mexico will take on South Africa to kick off this five-week, 104-match fiesta.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
It alludes to Filipino woven bilao — the big, circular ones with all sorts of fiesta food.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2026
His creation of the "Valentino red" inspired by a trip to Spain, helped elevate the brand to global fame with the debut of the iconic fiesta dress.
From BBC ● Jan. 19, 2026
It was a fiesta and it went on for seven days.
From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
Shops remained closed, bread was in short supply and Ceuta's annual fiestas have been cancelled as Spain's North African enclave struggled to cope after thousands of migrants poured in from neighbouring Morocco.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
Amid the military rule, Barraquiel Tan said he still saw art being created through things like community fiestas and carnivals run by trans artists.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 7, 2022
In the band’s early days, the siblings traveled across Mexico playing small-town fiestas, their father doubling as mechanic and their mother cooking whatever they could afford at the market on a charcoal grill.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 6, 2021
Villages and towns across Spain hold the fiestas but they were prohibited last year as the country brought in tough health restrictions.
From Reuters ● Sep. 5, 2021
Being a people of close family ties and weekly fiestas they suddenly understood the situation.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
Definitions 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.
