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

Noun

• celebration
• fest
• festival
• festivity
• fete
• fête
• fiesta
• gala
• jubilee

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

Yet the most important part of this annual carnival of horsedom is that one of the occupants will be the next winner of the Kentucky Derby. —Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2025

For thrill-seekers, there’s a full carnival experience with rock-climbing walls, paintball, stilt-walkers, and a Ferris wheel offering stunning views of the river and downtown skyline. —Tiffani Jackson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Apr. 2025

Adjective

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

The Square has spooky carnival-style games. —Annie Alleman, Chicago Tribune, 12 Sep. 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

1605, 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