Word.ws English Dictionary

Carnation Revolution

Carnation Revolution proper noun: a revolution and military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the colonialist and authoritarian Estado Novo on 25 April 1974 in Lisbon, Portugal, leading to major cultural and political changes.

Proper noun

the Carnation Revolution

  1. (historical) A revolution and military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the colonialist and authoritarian Estado Novo on 25 April 1974 in Lisbon, Portugal, leading to major cultural and political changes.

Origin of Carnation Revolution

Calque of Portuguese Revolução dos Cravos. So named because a woman who had carnations handed them out to soldiers in the early hours of the coup, and they were placed in gun barrels and became a symbol of the peacefulness of the coup.

Questions about Carnation Revolution

What does Carnation Revolution mean?
Carnation Revolution means a revolution and military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the colonialist and authoritarian Estado Novo on 25 April 1974 in Lisbon, Portugal, leading to major cultural and political changes.
What part of speech is Carnation Revolution?
Carnation Revolution is a proper noun.

Words near Carnation Revolution in the dictionary

  1. carnate
  2. Carnathan
  3. Carnathans
  4. Carnatic
  5. carnation
  6. Carnation Revolution
  7. carnation-grass
  8. carnationed
  9. carnationist
  10. carnationists
  11. carnations

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Carnation Revolution (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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