carnivalesque

adjective

car·​ni·​val·​esque ˌkär-nə-və-ˈlesk 

1

: suggestive of a carnival

a carnivalesque celebration

2

: marked by an often mocking or satirical challenge to authority and the traditional social hierarchy

a carnivalesque protest

Examples of carnivalesque in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But by the mid-1930s, Soviet leaders sensed that people needed something to take the edge off in the dead of winter, a carnivalesque custom of the sort that Christmas once provided. —Andrew Fedorov, The Atlantic, 31 Dec. 2025

The film’s centerpiece is a chaotic, carnivalesque parade of surrealistic characters marching through Tokyo. —Eric Vilas-Boas, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2025

With their flared, fringed petals, the flowers have a carnivalesque presence, but Oppenheim’s spare installation cuts the comedy. —Richard Brody, New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2025

Before last year’s trial, the blocks surrounding the Superior Court in Dedham developed a carnivalesque atmosphere. —Lance Reynolds, Boston Herald, 12 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1791, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for carnivalesque

• arabesque
• picaresque
• romanesque
• statuesque
• burlesque
• grotesque
• desk