| / English Dictionary |
FESTIVAL
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
An organized series of acts and performances (usually in one place)
Example:
a drama festival
Synonyms:
festival; fete
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("festival" is a kind of...):
celebration; festivity (any joyous diversion)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "festival"):
carnival (a festival marked by merrymaking and processions)
Bacchanalia; Dionysia (an orgiastic festival in ancient Greece in honor of Dionysus (= Bacchus))
eisteddfod (any of several annual Welsh festivals involving artistic competitions (especially in singing))
film festival (a cinematic festival that features films (usually films produced during the past year))
jazz festival (a festival that features performances by jazz artists)
Kwanza; Kwanzaa (a festival featuring African-American culture; celebrated between Christmas and New Year)
Oktoberfest (an autumn festival that involves merrymaking and drinking beer)
Saturnalia (an orgiastic festival in ancient Rome in honor of Saturn)
sheepshearing (a festival held at the time sheep are normally sheared)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A day or period of time set aside for feasting and celebration
Classified under:
Nouns denoting time and temporal relations
Hypernyms ("festival" is a kind of...):
period; period of time; time period (an amount of time)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "festival"):
church festival; religious festival (a festival having religious significance)
Context examples:
There was a good deal of laughing and kissing and explaining, in the simple, loving fashion which makes these home festivals so pleasant at the time, so sweet to remember long afterward, and then all fell to work.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
When the music stopped, they sat down on the stairs to get their breath, and Laurie was in the midst of an account of a students' festival at Heidelberg when Meg appeared in search of her sister.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
She blushed with pleasure, but somehow the compliment did not satisfy her like the blunt praises he used to give her at home, when he promenaded round her on festival occasions, and told her she was 'altogether jolly', with a hearty smile and an approving pat on the head.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
For Jo sat on the grass, with an encampment of boys about her, and a dirty-footed dog reposing on the skirt of her state and festival dress, as she related one of Laurie's pranks to her admiring audience.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
Five years after Jo's wedding, one of these fruitful festivals occurred, a mellow October day, when the air was full of an exhilarating freshness which made the spirits rise and the blood dance healthily in the veins.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
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