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

Downtown Days will be open from noon to 10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, although the carnival rides are available until 5 p.m. on the final day. —Janice Phelan, Kansas City Star, 5 June 2024

The state fair features blue-ribbon animal displays, culinary delights and competitions, live music, a carnival, fireworks and other family fun. —Brittany Delay, The Mercury News, 24 May 2024

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