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

Admission is free, activities such as the carnival and run have fees. —Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Mar. 2026

There will also be carnival rides and games, eating contests, cooking demonstrations, wine seminars, food booths selling Italian favorites, as well as The Moretti Beer Garden and the Spritz Del Conte Wine Garden. —Rod Stafford Hagwood, Sun Sentinel, 30 Mar. 2026

Adjective

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

Transform your salad spinner into a carnival-style spin art machine. —Lauren Piro, Good Housekeeping, 31 Oct. 2022

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