Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Greek Mythology Of or relating to Dionysus or the Dionysia.
- adjective Ecstatic or wild.
from The Century Dictionary.
- In Greek myth, of or pertaining to the festivals called Dionysia, in honor of Dionysus or Bacchus, the god of wine; Bacchic.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Of or pertaining to Dionysus or to the Dionysia; Bacchic.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Of, or relating to
Dionysus or to theDionysia .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Some of the so-called Dionysiac festivals in ancient Greece are examples of the enthusiasm, joy, and abounding vitality to which religion has, among so many other human experiences, given expression.
Human Traits and their Social Significance Irwin Edman
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These benighted souls have no idea how cadaverous and ghostly their ‘sanity’ appears as the intense throng of Dionysiac revelers sweeps past them p.
World Wide Mind Michael chorost 2011
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There should be more bands who sound like Silkworm and less who sound like they think they have something original to contribute to the field of Rocking Dionysiac Abandon.
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The Capulets' ball becomes a ferociously Dionysiac wingding, and every opportunity is made to highlight the play's sexual imagery, not least in the performance of Jonjo O'Neill's brilliantly manic Mercutio.
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The Dionysiac impulse remained a potent force in Twombly's work even as he was approaching 80.
Cy Twombly obituary 2011
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These benighted souls have no idea how cadaverous and ghostly their ‘sanity’ appears as the intense throng of Dionysiac revelers sweeps past them p.
World Wide Mind Michael chorost 2011
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He gets us out of our seats to sing, sway and imitate the astonishing pelvic thrusts of the Dionysiac dancers on stage in a number called Originality.
Fela! - review Michael Billington 2010
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Nietzsche's "Birth of Tragedy" argued that the Greeks 'reputed Apollonian harmony was achieved only by suppressing Dionysiac impulses, while Burckhardt maintained that the Italian Renaissance was born from and sustained by "competitive individualism."
Book review of Hugh Trevor-Roper's "History and the Enlightenment" 2010
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In addition, Thurii had for centuries been a center of Orphic religion, a cult with Dionysiac overtones that offered a natural opening to the Thracian woman and her prophecies.
The Spartacus War Barry Strauss 2009
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In 186 B.C. the Roman Senate claimed that Italys widespread Dionysiac groups masked a conspiracy.
The Spartacus War Barry Strauss 2009
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