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

Participants take over city streets for a carnivalesque monthly ride, contesting cars’ dominance. —Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 5 Mar. 2026

But in its political culture the corruption was inescapable, and, like the city itself, carnivalesque. —James Verini, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026

Kaddu embodies the carnivalesque spirit of the NFL in London, which has been hosting regular-season games since 2007. —Erin Florio, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Feb. 2026

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

Word History

First Known Use

1791, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for carnivalesque

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