: noisy partying or merrymaking

Examples of revelry in a Sentence

Each city has its own Carnival, but none, not even the revelry of Mardi Gras, is as spectacular as Brooklyn's. Peter Noel, Village Voice, 6 Sept. 1994
Wassailing is an ancient English custom, part of the feasts and revelry of New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, which have been revived in Colonial Williamsburg. Joan P. Dutton, The Williamsburg Cookbook, 1975
The tall minister stood again at the altar. He waited for the song and the revelry to die. Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 1969
The small birds were taking their farewell banquets. In the fullness of their revelry, they fluttered, chirping and frolicking from bush to bush, and tree to tree … Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, 1820
the lottery winner was exhausted after a long night of revelry
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The women in the fresco are both hunters and dancers, suggesting that the duality of slaughter and revelry was a central tenet. Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Feb. 2025 To know Puerto Rico is to know kindness in its truest form—or to be more precise, both kindness and all-out drunken revelry in their truest forms. Jared Ranahan, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2025 Among the revelry, Dillon Snyder marked the occasion by getting on one knee and proposing to his girlfriend, Ellen Confer. Isaac Avilucea, Axios, 10 Feb. 2025 The Hindu festival of Holi celebrates spring, color and love in an explosion of revelry and music. Isha Trivedi, The Mercury News, 18 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for revelry

Word History

Etymology

see revel entry 1

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of revelry was in the 15th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Revelry.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/revelry. Accessed 10 Mar. 2025.

Kids Definition

revelry

noun
plural revelries
: rough and noisy merrymaking

More from Merriam-Webster on revelry

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!