Roman holiday
Americannoun
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a public spectacle or controversy marked by barbarism, vindictiveness, or scandal.
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pleasure or advantage gained from the discomfort or suffering of others.
noun
Etymology
Origin of Roman holiday
First recorded in 1885–90
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.
In the past, Italy away was something of a Roman holiday for England in the Six Nations.
From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2026
Kim Kardashian is making a number of sartorial statements during her Roman holiday.
From Fox News ● Jul. 1, 2021
That view has not changed — but in empty Rome, still reeling from a year’s cultural deprivation, I felt myself oddly moved by this catastrophic imposture, and the hopelessness of Hirst’s Roman holiday.
From New York Times ● Jun. 25, 2021
On my Roman holiday my guide was a dead man of incomparable erudition and wit: the late Australian art critic Robert Hughes.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 28, 2019
It remains to notice in another chapter the last scene in the stern drama of this "Roman holiday."
From Valeria The Martyr of the Catacombs by William Henry Withrow
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.
