orgy
Pluralorgies
- 1A gathering at which a group of people have sex with one another.
The tabloid claimed the rock star had hosted an orgy at his mansion.
Neighbors complained that the rented villa had become a venue for weekend orgies.
- 2A bout or period of overindulgence in a particular activity.
The holiday weekend turned into an orgy of eating, drinking and online shopping.
The riot became an orgy of looting that lasted two nights.
Similarspree, binge, frenzy, bout
Note
It usually takes of and the activity overdone: an orgy of looting, of annihilation, of eating. The tone swings with the speaker. A riot's orgy of looting is condemned, while Nick Gillett, reviewing games in The Guardian, praised one as an orgy of perfectly choreographed cartoon violence. Either way the word means excess without restraint, not just a lot.
- 3A secret rite held in honor of a pagan god or goddess such as Dionysus or Osiris, typically marked by riotous dancing, drunkenness, and indiscriminate sex.
Initiates gathered in secret for the orgy of Bacchus, dancing by torchlight until dawn.
The city's rulers feared the secret orgies held for the god and tried to stamp them out.
Note
The word began with religion, not sex: Greek órgia meant secret rites or mysteries, and English took it from French orgies in the sixteenth century, at first only in the plural. The wild behavior such ceremonies were known for is what carried the word toward group sex and excess of any kind.
Practice
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Origin
Originally used in the plural, from French orgies, from Latin orgia, from Ancient Greek órgia (“secret rites, mysteries”).