fiesta
Americannoun
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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
Medellín excused herself and headed across the street — there was more fiesta to enjoy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
After Mexico’s stunning 2-0 win over Ecuador on Tuesday—its first in a World Cup elimination match in 40 years—more than one million people took to the capital’s streets for an all-night fiesta.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
The fans' energy levels defied the hot and humid conditions with a fiesta from start to finish.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
If undetected, it can lie dormant in the human body for years before erupting in a positive fiesta of maladies.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
“Every barangay had specialty cooks who were called upon during happy occasions like fiestas and weddings. It’s just a matter of harnessing this cultural tradition.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2022
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
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
Fund-raisers have become folklórico fixtures, with troupes performing at church fiestas, weddings and even casinos to raise money for stock costumes, and parents selling tamales and T-shirts outside packed auditoriums.
From New York Times ● Mar. 15, 2018
El Patron’s voice filled with wonder as he described the hacienda where he had attended fiestas so long ago.
From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer
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.
