Mardi Gras

American  

[mahr-dee grah] / ˈmɑr di ˌgrɑ /

noun

1. the day before Lent, celebrated in some cities, such as New Orleans and Paris, as a day of revelry and merrymaking.

2. a pre-Lenten carnival period climaxing on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.

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Mardi Gras British  

/ ˈmɑːdɪ ˈɡrɑː /

noun

1. the festival of Shrove Tuesday, celebrated in some cities with great revelry

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Mardi Gras Cultural  

1. An annual festival held in France on the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Mardi Gras is French for “Fat Tuesday” — meaning it is the last opportunity to eat rich food before the fast of Lent begins. It is related to celebrations elsewhere, called “carnivals,” from the Latin words carne and vale, “meat” and “farewell,” meaning a farewell to meat before the abstinence of Lent.

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Usage

What is Mardi Gras? Mardi Gras is the last day before Lent—the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. It is sometimes called Fat Tuesday, which is what its name means in French. The term Mardi Gras also refers to the festival that takes place on this day and in the days (or even weeks) leading up to it. This festival is especially associated with the U. S. city of New Orleans, where it is prominently celebrated. In other places, this festival is called Carnival. Lent is the season of fasting and penitence that precedes Easter in some branches of Christianity. Mardi Gras is part of a tradition of indulging before the Lenten fast, but it is not a Christian holiday.

Discover More

New Orleans, Louisiana, is famous for its Mardi Gras celebration, as is Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Etymology

Origin of Mardi Gras

First recorded in 1690–1700; from French: literally, “fat Tuesday”; mardi “Tuesday,” Old French marsdi, from Latin diēs Mārtis, Mārtis diēs “day of Mars” ( cf. dismal ( def. ), martial ( def. )); gras “fat,” from Latin grassus “fat, thick”

Compare meaning

How does mardi-gras compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• carnival vs. Mardi Gras

Example Sentences

Mardi Gras, which translates as Fat Tuesday, features floats, marching bands and dance crews across several days of free parades.

From BBC • Feb. 16, 2026

At the Mobile Carnival Museum, Mardi Gras costumes behind a glass case wouldn’t have been out of place on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 7, 2026

They called it Mecca, and every week, they came to the same stretch of levee next to an abandoned warehouse where Mardi Gras floats were once built.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 10, 2025

He fell in love with the city when he attended Mardi Gras in 1972 with some friends from college, he said.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 10, 2025

Last time my mom mentioned Mardi Gras to me, I couldn’t speak—I just started crying.

From "King and the Dragonflies" by Kacen Callender