shivaree

[ shiv-uh-ree ]

noun

1. a mock serenade with kettles, pans, horns, and other noisemakers given for a newly married couple.
2. Informal. an elaborate, noisy celebration.

verb (used with object)

, shiv·a·reed, shiv·a·ree·ing.

1. to serenade with a shivaree.

shivaree

/ ˌʃɪvəˈriː /

noun

1. a discordant mock serenade to newlyweds, made with pans, kettles, etc
2. a confused noise; din

Word History and Origins

Origin of shivaree¹

First recorded in 1800–10, Americanism; alteration of Mississippi Valley French, French charivari charivari

Example Sentences

Jest the same it 'ud sure surprise me if we didn't git some sort of a shivaree pahty afteh nightfall.

From Project Gutenberg

Often the young men, stimulated with more or less “moonshine,” add the literally stunning compliment of a shivaree.

From Project Gutenberg

I wanted to keep Man sober, and I tried to get him and his wife out of town before that shivaree of yours was pulled off.

From Project Gutenberg

I wonder what poor old Elder Edkins would say now if he caught sight of me in this shivaree.

From Project Gutenberg

Scales had fixed up for a crowd of hoodlums to shivaree them as they went.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• bickering
• brawl
• chaos
• clamor
• confusion
• flap
• fracas
• free-for-all
• furor
• fuss
• mayhem
• melee
• outcry
• riot
• strife
• turbulence
• turmoil

🎵 More About Shivaree 🎵

What is a shivaree?

Shivaree is the Dictionary.com Word of the Day for October 21, 2021, in honor of the world premiere of Shivaree: Fantasy for Trumpet and Orchestra, a piece of classical music by Steven Mackey being debuted by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and conductor Gustavo Dudamel.

Shivaree: Fantasy for Trumpet and Orchestra is a composition for solo trumpet and orchestra made up of 12 movements, each of which was written as a musical interpretation of different words discovered through the Dictionary.com Word of the Day. As Mackey himself explained:

“Two little rituals became part of my daily life. I was getting notifications on my phone every morning with the ‘Word of the Day’ from Dictionary.com and my 10-year-old daughter would wander into my study, sit down at the piano, and say, ‘Give me a word.’ She would play an improvisation inspired by those words, which led me to decide to take some of the more unusual and evocative ‘Words of the Day’ as points of departure for my Trumpet Fantasy.”

The other Word of the Day-inspired movements in the piece are chthonian, erumpent, tintinnabulation, exonumia, requiescat, deipnosophist, omphaloskepsis, horripilation, deliquesce, and apopemptic.

Learn more about Shivaree, Steven Mackey, and the art of the musical interpretation of Dictionary.com’s Words of the Day here.

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