revelry
Americannoun
-
revelries
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of revelry
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at revel, -ry
Explanation
Revelry is a wild, fun time. If you enjoy the revelry of a New Year's Eve party, you might pay for partying hard the next day. The noun revelry means merrymaking, but because it comes from the French word reveler meaning to rebel, its tone indicates carousing or noisy partying. It's not your grandparents' tame, sedate cocktail party: revelry is a full-throttle festive gathering, where people outwardly enjoy themselves. In fact, a wild party was once called a "revel," though you don't hear that term used much today.
Vocabulary lists containing revelry
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Party Parlance for Mardi Gras
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New Year, New Words: Vocabulary for January
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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:
The ships are small, designed less for onboard revelry than for shuttling passengers from one port to another.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Wearing a red rose around his neck, Scott Kerman has jumped on a flight from Portland, Oregon, to join in the revelry.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
The beauty of this show is that Waters and his producers focused on history’s unsung heroes or the lesser-known feats of famous ones with an infectious, besotted revelry that frequently inspired further research.
From Salon ● Jul. 1, 2026
Mexican couple Daniela Garcia and Fran Ruiloba joined in for the bottomless revelry after hearing about the event last year.
From Barron's ● Jan. 11, 2026
Bernabe felt like laughing, yet instead he set his face in a glower, hoping to drive this one-armed poet back into the heart of the revelry where he belonged.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
He eschews counterpoint — there are no “Messiah” revelries of intersecting parts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 24, 2021
Puritan efforts to crack down on Christmas revelries in England before 1620 had little impact.
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2020
The coronavirus may have silenced traditional revelries for the Fourth of July, but officials and others still aim to celebrate the country’s birthday using creativity, technology and safety.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 2, 2020
Both festive enough for Louisiana’s pre-Lenten revelries and simple enough to make any other time of the year.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2014
Here, no doubt, the statue of the Emperor looked down upon a strange confusion of revelries and wild offerings in honour of the unknown powers of Nature.
From Out-of-Doors in the Holy Land Impressions of Travel in Body and Spirit by Henry Van Dyke
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.
