as in festival
a time or program of special events and entertainment in honor of something
the town's annual Fourth of July carnival
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in carnivalesque
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of carnival
Paige Moore, AZCentral.com, 16 Feb. 2026
Adherents welcome the new year with a variety of cultural traditions and rituals such as carnivals, parades, fireworks and ancestor remembrance.
—Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 16 Feb. 2026
Chloe McGowan, The Indianapolis Star, 27 June 2022
The Queen is also expected to attend the Derby, one of her favorite horse race events, a concert at Buckingham Palace and the Platinum Jubilee Pageant, a carnival-style celebration during which many artists, including Ed Sheeran, will perform.
—Monique Jessen, PEOPLE.com, 12 May 2022
See All Example Sentences for carnival
Noun
Now the carnival is celebrated around the world, each with slightly different variations of the celebration.
—Paige Moore, AZCentral.com, 16 Feb. 2026
Adherents welcome the new year with a variety of cultural traditions and rituals such as carnivals, parades, fireworks and ancestor remembrance.
—Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 16 Feb. 2026
Adjective
Whitestown's family-friendly Independence Day Celebration will kick off at 6 p.m. with live music, carnival-style food, a ticketed kid's zone and a fireworks show once the sun goes down.
—Chloe McGowan, The Indianapolis Star, 27 June 2022
The Queen is also expected to attend the Derby, one of her favorite horse race events, a concert at Buckingham Palace and the Platinum Jubilee Pageant, a carnival-style celebration during which many artists, including Ed Sheeran, will perform.
—Monique Jessen, PEOPLE.com, 12 May 2022
See All Example Sentences for carnival
Recent Examples of Synonyms for carnival
Noun
-
Key events during the festival April 24-26 will be the VIP party on Friday, Porsches & Power on Prospect on Saturday and the main show at Scripps Park on Sunday.—
Noah Lyons,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
19 Feb. 2026
-
As the Year of the Horse galloped in, revelers ushered in the most prominent festival on the Chinese Lunar calendar with some quirks – from Kung Fu robots to Harry Potter’s teenage nemesis – and some reflection.—
CNN staff,
CNN Money,
18 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
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
Noun
-
Lunar New Year celebrations are in full swing as millions participate in festivities and honor traditions believed to bring good fortune.—
Alexandra Banner,
CNN Money,
17 Feb. 2026
-
His government last year banned the popular Budapest Pride celebration and allowed facial recognition technology to be used to identify anyone participating despite the ban.—
MATTHEW LEE,
Arkansas Online,
17 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
After 40 years beachside (and gaining a casual, semi-riotous rep for all the day-drinking amid the sand and surf), the Independent Spirit Awards has shacked up at the Hollywood Palladium.—
Anna Cafolla,
Vogue,
16 Feb. 2026
-
The quest to fathom the riotous diversity of nature is absorbingly told in a virtual double biography of the great taxonomist Carl Linnaeus and his contemporary, the count of Buffon.—
Ian Tattersall,
The New York Review of Books,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Earlier in the week while discussing the field for the 3-point shooting contest at the NBA’s 2026 All-Star festivities in Los Angeles, Kon Knueppel must’ve had an inkling.—
Roderick Boone,
Charlotte Observer,
15 Feb. 2026
-
Actress and producer Rachael Harris hosted the evening’s festivities.—
Jazz Tangcay,
Variety,
15 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The seven-time All-Star made his first seven shots with five 3-pointers amid raucous cheers from the extra-steep supporters’ section called The Wall behind one basket at this futuristic 18-month-old arena.—
Greg Beacham,
Twin Cities,
16 Feb. 2026
-
The seven-time All-Star made his first seven shots with five 3-pointers amid raucous cheers from the extra-steep supporters' section called The Wall behind one basket at this futuristic 18-month-old arena.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
16 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
As Catherine, Anna Calder-Marshall is wonderfully earthy and boisterous.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
16 Feb. 2026
-
Chris Jackson / Getty Images And he will also have been given guidance on his fellow prince, who unlike William is not part of a constitutional monarchy answerable to lawmakers and open to criticism from an often boisterous free press.—
Yuliya Talmazan,
NBC news,
14 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Three or four decades ago, the newspaperman was appealingly raffish—at once a bum who drank too much and a knight-errant who charged unafraid at social injustice, succored the weak, and crossed lances with the powerful and arrogant.—
David Wingrave,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
-
A little lowly courier work, yes, but nothing more raffish than that.—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Carnival.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/carnival. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
