Word.ws English Dictionary

revel

/ˈɹɛv.əl/

revel noun: an instance of merrymaking; a celebration. Also the alternative form of reveal.

Noun

revel (plural revels)

  1. An instance of merrymaking; a celebration.
    • Our revels now are ended.1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
    • "I ought to arise and go forth with timbrels and with dances; but, do you know, I am not inclined to revels? There has been a little—just a very little bit too much festivity so far …. Not that I don't adore dinners and gossip and dances; not that I do not love to pervade bright and glittering...1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter II, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC
    Synonyms:
    shindig
  2. A kind of dance.
  3. A wake for the dead.

Verb (1)

revel (third-person singular simple present revels, present participle (US) reveling or (UK) revelling, simple past and past participle (US) reveled or (UK) revelled)

  1. To make merry; to have a happy, lively time.
    • If there bee any lasie fellow, any that cannot away with worke, any that would wallow in pleasures, hee is hastie to be priested. And when hee is made one, and has gotten a benefice, he consorts with his neighbour priests, who are altogether given to pleasures; and then both hee, and they, live...1610, Alexander Cooke, Pope Joane, in William Oldys, editor, The Harleian Miscellany […], volume IV, London: Printed for T[homas] Osborne, in Gray's-Inn, 1744, OCLC 5325177; republished as John...
    • […] so they might spend the livelong day as befitteth high holiday, in pleasure and action without care, and thereafter revel in the lofty presence chamber till night grew old with eating and drinking and all delight.1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 7
    Synonyms:
    carouse, celebrate
  2. To take delight (in something).
    • Slowing down doesn't have to feel like holding back. It can be an opportunity to revel in sounds and sensations, to not be so concerned about where we are going but to enjoy the moment and become comfortable where we are.1997, The Art of Practicing, a Guide to Making Music from the Heart

Verb (2)

revel (third-person singular simple present revels, present participle revelling, simple past and past participle revelled)

  1. (obsolete) To draw back; to retract.
    • It then revelleth and drawethe backe agayne those humors which concurre towardes the Eyes.1597, A. M., The Frenche chirurgerye, translation of original by Jacques Guilleameau

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Revel

Revel (plural Revels)

  1. A surname.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Revel

Revel

  1. (alternative) Alternative spelling of Reval (“Tallinn”).

Also used as

revel is also the alternative form of reveal.

revel meaning in Sanskrit and Arabic

revel in Sanskrit

take delight (in)
भुनक्ति bhunakti

revel in Arabic

make merry
عَرْبَدَ ʕarbada

Examples of revel in a sentence

  • The woman upstairs told the people outside to stop reveling.
  • It shows you piles of corpses, then revels in its mechs and future-war grimdark.
  • Both artists were charming, shameless and cruel, and revelled in what Bacon called an “atmosphere of threat”.

All 33 example sentences with revel

Synonyms of revel

Forms of revel

Noun
pluralrevels
Verb
third-person singular presentrevels
present participle USreveling
present participle UKrevelling
past participle USreveled
past USreveled
past participle UKrevelled
past UKrevelled
present participlerevelling
past participlerevelled
pastrevelled
Proper noun
pluralRevels

Plural of revel: revels

Origin of revel

From Middle English revelen, from Old French revel, from reveler (“to be disorderly, to make merry”), from Latin rebello (“to rebel”). Doublet of rebel.

From Latin revellere, from re- + vellere (“to pluck, pull”).

* As an English surname, variant of Revell. * As a French surname, from Old French reveau (“rebel”). * Also as a French surname, from several places in France, such as Revel, Haute-Garonne, named after a nearby Mont Revel, from Latin rebellis (“he who revolts, rebels”).

Words formed from revel

Words that rhyme with revel

Questions about revel

What does revel mean?
Revel means an instance of merrymaking; a celebration.
What is revel in Sanskrit?
Revel in Sanskrit is भुनक्ति (bhunakti). See Revel meaning in Sanskrit.
What part of speech is revel?
Revel can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce revel?
Revel is pronounced /ˈɹɛv.əl/ (UK).
What is the plural of revel?
The plural of revel is revels.

Words near revel in the dictionary

  1. reveiling
  2. reveille
  3. reveilles
  4. reveillé
  5. reveils
  6. revel
  7. revel-dash
  8. revel-rout
  9. revel-routs
  10. revelability
  11. revelate

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: revel (page history and authors); Revel (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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-revel.wav.

Cite this entry: “revel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/revel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.