bacchanalia

noun

bac·​cha·​na·​lia ˌba-kə-ˈnāl-yə 

ˌbä-

plural bacchanalia

1

Bacchanalia plural : a Roman festival of Bacchus celebrated with dancing, song, and revelry

2

a

: orgy sense 2

b

: orgy sense 3

bacchanalian

ˌba-kə-ˈnāl-yən 

ˌbä-

adjective or noun

Examples of bacchanalia in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The bacchanalia started with a silver bowl of (optional) Jaegermeister shots for guests, whose seats awaited behind tables pre-littered with stale French fries and wine stains. —Harper's BAZAAR, 7 Feb. 2023

In February, the bacchanalia begins with the island’s spirited carnival celebrations, called Mas Dominik. —Kristin Braswell, Condé Nast Traveler, 3 Feb. 2023

When American businessman Todd Boehly purchased Chelsea Football Club from Roman Abramovich last spring, the conventional wisdom was that the bacchanalia of spending that had defined the Russian oligarch’s time running the team had come to an end. —Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 4 Feb. 2023

As Damien Chazelle’s Hollywood bacchanalia prepares to make its big debut, its contenders are slowly coming into focus. —Vulture, 4 Nov. 2022

An utter free-for-all of alien-cyborg-A.I. bacchanalia? —Kyle Munkittrick, Discover Magazine, 30 Apr. 2011

In short, this week brought another bacchanalia of forward guidance from our most important economic policy makers. —Joseph C. Sternberg, WSJ, 15 Dec. 2022

The memoir instead became a book of general wisdom, drawn from his fourteen years of sobriety and the regret-laden bacchanalia that preceded them. —Dan Greene, The New Yorker, 28 Nov. 2022

Yet rather than winning over voters, the advertising bacchanalia has largely generated fatigue and annoyance, according to voters interviewed around the state. —Joshua Jamerson, WSJ, 6 Nov. 2022

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Word History

Etymology

Latin, from Bacchus

First Known Use

1591, in the meaning defined at sense 1