carnival
/ˈkɑɹnɪvəl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.86 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A context in which transgression or inversion of the social order is given temporary license. Derived from the work of Mikhail Bakhtin.
name
The season just before the beginning of the Western Christian season of Lent.
Example Sentences
- "Carnival of Brazil"
- "Venice Carnival"
- "Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth."
- "We all got to ride the merry-go-round when they brought their carnival to town."
- "When the carnival came to town, every one wanted some cotton candy."
- "The social environment contains the ambiguous traces of carnival: it resists the ideology of capitalism and, at the same time, reproduces the capitalist social order."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkɑɹnɪvəl/
- British English: /ˈkɑːnɪvəl/
Usage
- American usage
- Informal
- Literary
- Countable
- Uncountable