corybantic

adjective

cor·​y·​ban·​tic ˌkȯr-ē-ˈban-tik 

ˌkär-

: being in the spirit or manner of a Corybant

especially : wild, frenzied

corybantic dancing

Did you know?

The big name in goddesses in Phrygia (Asia Minor) in the fifth century B.C. was Cybele (also called Cybebe or Agdistis), the "Great Mother of the Gods." According to Oriental and Greco-Roman mythology, she was the mother of it all: gods, humans, animals . . . even nature itself. The Corybants were Cybele's attendants and priests, and they worshipped her with an unrestrained frenzy of wildly emotional processions, rites, and dances. "Corybantic," the adjective based on the name of Cybele's attendants, can be used to describe anything characterized by a similarly unrestrained abandon.

Word History

First Known Use

1642, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for corybantic

• transatlantic
• unromantic
• antic
• frantic
• atlantic
• gigantic
• pedantic
• romantic
• semantic
• vedantic

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