Carnival
Definition, Meaning & Examples
Pronunciation /ˈkɑːnɪvəl/ · Part of speech noun
Quick meaning: Carnival is a noun meaning Any of a number of festivals held just before the beginning of Lent.
Meaning
Any of a number of festivals held just before the beginning of Lent.
More Meanings
- A festive occasion marked by parades and sometimes special foods and other entertainment.
- (US) A traveling amusement park, called a funfair in British English.
- (figurative) A gaudily chaotic situation.
- (informal, rare) To participate in a carnival.
- (literary) To move about playfully or wildly.
- (sociology) A context in which transgression or inversion of the social order is given temporary license. Derived from the work of Mikhail Bakhtin.
Example Sentences
Venice Carnival
Carnival of Brazil
a carnival of idiocy
When the carnival came to town, every one wanted some cotton candy.
Word Forms
- carnivals
- carnaval
- carnivaling
- carnivalling
- carnivaled
- carnivalled
Synonyms for carnival
Depending on context, synonyms include fair, circus, funfair.
Related Words
Related dictionary entries include fair, circus, funfair, carnaval, family, show.
Related Dictionary Tools
Sources & Attribution
FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.