bacchanal means relating to Bacchus or his festival. It carries an Arena rating of 1500, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, bacchanal ranks #2,328 of 14,438 for Most Storied Words, #2,350 of 14,448 for Most Incisive Words, #2,374 of 14,451 for Most Whimsical Words, #2,498 of 14,340 for Most Vivid Words.
bacchanal is pronounced /ˈbækənəl/.
Why “bacchanal” is a great word
Relating to or characteristic of riotous, drunken revelry associated with Bacchus, the Roman god of wine, or a participant in such revelry. From the Latin *Bacchānālis*, from *Bacchus* (the Roman god of wine) + the adjectival suffix *-ālis* ("pertaining to"), first attested in English 1530–40. Unlike "revelry" (which names any lively, noisy festivity) or "soirée" (which implies an elegant, sophisticated evening), bacchanal carries the specific stain of sacrilegious excess: the worship of dissolution itself. It is the smash of an amphora on stone, the dizzying swirl of bodies in torchlight, and the sweet, fermenting stench of crushed grapes rising from the earth—a fleeting, furious argument against the tyranny of order.
Etymology
From Latin Bacchānālis (“of or pertaining to Bacchus”). See Bacchanalia.
adj
- Relating to Bacchus or his festival.“Sweet is the vintage, when the showering grapes / In Bacchanal profusion reel to earth, / Purple and gushing […]”
- Engaged in drunken revels; drunken and riotous or noisy.
noun
- A devotee of Bacchus.
- Someone who indulges in drunken partying; someone noisy and riotous when intoxicated.“The riot of the tipsie Bachanals”
- The festival of Bacchus; the bacchanalia.
- Drunken revelry; an orgy.
- A song or a dance in honor of Bacchus.
- drama, ruckus, fiasco
Words closest in meaning
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