revelry

C1 Topic:Word Formation & Derivatives

US /ˈrɛvəlri/ UK /ˈrɛvəlri/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
lively and noisy festivities, often involving drinking and dancing

The New Year's Eve party was filled with revelry.
2

noun
excessive indulgence in pleasures

The night descended into drunken revelry.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · lively and noisy... celebration party festivitymerrymakingcarousing

2 noun · excessive indulgence in... debaucherybacchanaliaspreebingeorgy

Opposites

solemnity sobriety

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

drunken revelry
noisy and uncontrolled celebration involving heavy drinking

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Old French reveler ('to make merry', ultimately from Latin rebellare) plus the suffix -ry; via Middle French revelrie and Middle English revelrie ('boisterous festivity') to Modern English revelry ('noisy celebration').

Topics

Word Formation & Derivatives General Vocabulary

External links

# revelry

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈrɛvəlri/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈrɛvəlri/

## Meanings
1. lively and noisy festivities, often involving drinking and dancing
2. excessive indulgence in pleasures

## Examples
- The New Year's Eve party was filled with revelry.
- The night descended into drunken revelry.

## Synonyms
- celebration
- party
- festivity
- merrymaking
- carousing
- debauchery
- bacchanalia
- spree
- binge
- orgy

## Antonyms
- solemnity
- sobriety

## Etymology
From Old French reveler ('to make merry', ultimately from Latin rebellare) plus the suffix -ry; via Middle French revelrie and Middle English revelrie ('boisterous festivity') to Modern English revelry ('noisy celebration').

## AI Etymology
Revelry comes from Old French reveler ('to make merry', ultimately from Latin rebellare) plus the suffix -ry; via Middle French revelrie and Middle English revelrie ('boisterous festivity') to Modern English revelry ('noisy celebration'). In current use it is a noun meaning "lively and noisy festivities, often involving drinking and dancing". That sense is explained by the older material without requiring a speculative semantic step: the inherited or borrowed base supplies the field of meaning, while the English formation fixes its modern role. The surface form is compositional: its joined elements remain visible in the modern word. The word's history is thus visible in its construction: the components remain interpretable even after the whole expression has settled into a conventional English meaning.

## Topics
- Word Formation & Derivatives
- General Vocabulary

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