Word.ws English Dictionary

saturnalian

saturnalian adjective: riotously merry; dissolute.

Adjective (1)

saturnalian (comparative more saturnalian, superlative most saturnalian)

  1. Riotously merry; dissolute.

Noun (1)

saturnalian (plural saturnalians)

  1. A merrymaker, a partygoer.
    • There were always certain delicious cakes and other sweets as well, curious conventual dainties, of which master and pupil partook with an equal and sympathetic appetite. If, by any evil chance, M. le Directeur came near them at that moment, the sight of his rigid scornful young face brought much...1885, George Fleming [pseudonym; Julia Constance Fletcher], “Family Affairs”, in Andromeda. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley and Son, […], →OCLC, page 105
    • There soon remained only ono day before that carnival of all sporting saturnalians, the Epsom Derby day, and Bindabun formed the prudent resolution to avoid any delays or crushings by putting Milky Way into a railway box, and despatching her to Epsom on the previous afternoon, under the chaperonago...1900 November 14, Baboo Hurry Bungsho Jabberjee [pseudonym; Thomas Anstey Guthrie], “A Bayard from Bengal. […] Chapter X. Trust Her Not! She Is Fooling Thee!”, in Punch, or The London Charivari...

Adjective (2) capitalized: Saturnalian

Saturnalian (comparative more Saturnalian, superlative most Saturnalian)

  1. (historical) Of or pertaining to Saturnalia.
  2. Alternative letter-case form of saturnalian (“riotously merry; dissolute”).

Noun (2) capitalized: Saturnalian

Saturnalian (plural Saturnalians)

  1. (historical) One celebrates or takes part in Saturnalia.
    • What masking, what mumming, what carding, what dicing, what gluttony, what drunkenneſs, what chambering, what wontonneſs, what turning nights into days, and days into nights! This Feaſt [i.e., Christmas] was occaſioned by thoſe most licentious Saturnalians, and they have indeed for many years...a. 1666, Robert Gell, “Notes and Observations upon Hebrews II. 14.”, in R[obert] Bacon, compiler, Gell’s Remaines: or, Several Select Scriptures of the New Testament Opened and Explained: […]...
    • Noëmus vino ſuccubuit ſemel, ejus vires fortè nondum expertus. Saturnalibus more receptum erat, multo mero ſe ingurgitare: & ebrietati Saturnus præerat.1747 [1658], [François-Antoine Pomey], translated by Andrew Tooke, “The Historical Sense of the Fable. By Saturn Is Meant Noah.”, in The Pantheon, Representing the Fabulous Histories of the Heathen...
  2. Alternative letter-case form of saturnalian (“a merrymaker, a partygoer”).
    • Christmas Eve, impatiently expected, was peeping over the brink of the hour. Millions had prepared for its celebration. Towns would be painted red. You, yourself, have heard the horns and dodged the capers of the Saturnalians.1906 December, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “Compliments of the Season”, in Ainslee’s […], volume XVIII, number 5, New York, N.Y.: Ainslee Magazine Co., →OCLC, page 133, column 2
    • The howling of drunken wedding-guests, the fluttering of ribbons, the stampede of frightened horses, the breaking of glasses, the dancing on the edge of bloody, atrocious crime, all this should roll across the picture like a moving, swollen ocean, and above it all […] clouds of drunken Saturnalians...1959, Miroslav Krleža, translated by Zora G. Depolo, The Return of Philip Latinovicz (Modern Yugoslav Novels), London: Lincolns-Praeger, →ISBN, pages 156–157

Forms of saturnalian

Adjective
comparativemore saturnalian
superlativemost saturnalian
alternative formSaturnalian
comparativemore Saturnalian
superlativemost Saturnalian
Noun
pluralsaturnalians
pluralSaturnalians

Origin of saturnalian

From saturnalia + -an.

From Saturnalia + -an.

Words formed from saturnalian

Questions about saturnalian

What does saturnalian mean?
Saturnalian means riotously merry; dissolute.
What part of speech is saturnalian?
Saturnalian can be an adjective or a noun.

Words near saturnalian in the dictionary

  1. Saturn V
  2. Saturn Vs
  3. Saturn's tree
  4. saturnal
  5. saturnalia
  6. saturnalian
  7. saturnalians
  8. saturnalias
  9. saturnally
  10. Saturnals
  11. saturnia

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: saturnalian (page history and authors); Saturnalian (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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