carnival

1 of 2

noun

car·​ni·​val ˈkär-nə-vəl 

1

: a season or festival of merrymaking before Lent

2

a

: an instance of merrymaking, feasting, or masquerading

b

: an instance of riotous excess

a carnival of violence

3

a

: a traveling enterprise offering amusements

b

: an organized program of entertainment or exhibition : festival

a winter carnival

carnival

2 of 2

adjective

: suggestive of or suited to a carnival

a carnival atmosphere

carnival colors

Synonyms of carnival

Noun

• festival
• celebration
• festivity

Examples of carnival in a Sentence

Noun

the school's annual winter carnival

That part of town is a carnival on Friday and Saturday nights.

There is a carnival atmosphere in the office.

The garden became a carnival of color.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

This year, VanDeCreek wasn’t there just to enjoy the food, carnival and parade, but also to collect signatures for a petition to ban data centers. — Taylor O'Connor, Kansas City Star, 22 Sep. 2026

By 1869, New York had taken to decorating ships in the harbor with Italian and American flags, in addition to hosting a carnival and parade. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Sep. 2026

Adjective

One of the biggest pre-carnival fetes on the island, Caribbean Melting Pot at the Carnival Village, features superstar soca acts like Machel Montano and Skinny Fabulous yet still charges under USD $40 a ticket. — Baz Dreisinger, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026

Customers at Starbucks will be introduced to a new interface with a carnival-style wheel. — Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY, 30 Mar. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Italian carnevale, alteration of earlier carnelevare, literally, removal of meat, from carne flesh (from Latin carn-, caro) + levare to remove, from Latin, to raise

First Known Use

Noun

1549, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1832, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

carnival

noun

car·​ni·​val

ˈkär-nə-vəl

1

: a season or festival of merrymaking before Lent

2

: a noisy merrymaking

3

a

: a traveling group that puts on a variety of amusements

b

: a program of entertainment