bacchanal

Other forms: bacchanals

A bacchanal is a crazed party with drunken revelry, ecstatic sexual experimentation, and wild music. In a nutshell, it is "sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll."

Bacchus was the Roman god of wine, which loosened the chains of social restraints; and so, the name of Bacchantes’ hedonistic, pleasure-filled gatherings were named bacchanals. Who might be a modern-day Bacchus? Elvis Presley had bacchanalian charisma. Now, this bit of trivia might impress your friends: the song we know as the Can-Can is titled "Bacchanale," from the opera Orpheus in the Underworld – that’s one hot steaming club jam going on down in Hades!

Definitions of bacchanal

1. noun

   a wild gathering
   synonyms: bacchanalia, debauch, debauchery, drunken revelry, riot, saturnalia

   type of:

   revel, revelry

   unrestrained merrymaking
2. noun

   a drunken reveller; a devotee of Bacchus
   synonyms: bacchant

   type of:

   buff, devotee, fan, lover

   an ardent follower and admirer
3. noun

   someone who engages in drinking bouts
   synonyms: bacchant, drunken reveler, drunken reveller

   type of:

   drinker, imbiber, juicer, toper

   a person who drinks alcoholic beverages (especially to excess)
4. adjective

   used of riotously drunken merrymaking
   synonyms: bacchanalian, bacchic, carousing, orgiastic

   drunk, inebriated, intoxicated

   stupefied or excited by a chemical substance (especially alcohol)