Bacchanalian

• bacchanalian

From Bacchanalia +‎ -an.

• IPA^(key): /ˌbækəˈneɪli.ən/

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Bacchanalian (not comparable)

1. (Roman mythology, Greek mythology) Of or pertaining to the festival of Bacchus, relating to or given to reveling and drunkenness.

   Near-synonyms: bacchic, bacchian; Dionysiac, Dionysian; dionysiac, dionysian

   • 1782, William Cowper, The Progress of Error:

     Even Bacchanalian madness has its charms.

2. (by extension) Of or resembling wild or unrestrained revelry.
   • 1949, George R. Stewart, Part II, Chapter 6, in Earth Abides:

     The dancing and shouting of the children around the fire had become even more bacchanalian.

Bacchanalian (plural Bacchanalians)

1. A bacchanal; a drunken reveler.
   • 1894, George du Maurier, “Part Third”, in Trilby: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, page 165:

     With the help of a sleepy waiter, Little Billee got the bacchanalian into his room and lit his candle for him, and, disengaging himself from his maudlin embraces, left him to wallow in solitude.