an orgiastic festival in ancient Greece in honor of Dionysus (= Bacchus)
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a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity
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Bacchanalia \Bac`cha*na"li*a\ (b[a^]k`k[.a]*n[=a]"l[i^]*[.a]), n. pl. [L. Bacchanal a place devoted to Bacchus; in the pl. Bacchanalia a feast of Bacchus, fr. Bacchus the god of wine, Gr. Ba`kchos.] 1. (Myth.) A feast or an orgy in honor of Bacchus.
2. Hence: A drunken feast; drunken revels; an orgy.
But it's hard not to be cynical after watching the House and Senate moralize last week about farmers' plights while turning the drought-relief bill into a $6 billion election-year bacchanalia.