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Glite Dictionary
🎪 Carnival worker 🎉 Showy or flashy 🎠 A traveling fair
carney

carney

8.6
A traveling fair with rides and games that sets up temporarily
  • noun
  • /ˈkɑrni/
  • US
translation icon : feria
  • The carney worked at the fair, helping children play games and win prizes.

Examples

  • Families gathered at the carney to enjoy thrilling rides and tasty funnel cakes.

  • Every summer, the carney sets up in the park and draws huge crowds.

  • We spent the evening at the carney, riding the Ferris wheel and eating cotton candy.

  • The children were excited when the carney arrived with its colorful tents and flashing lights.

  • The carney set up the Ferris wheel in the park.

  • Many carneys travel from town to town during the summer.

  • Last summer, the carney came to our town and set up the funfair near the park.

Synonyms

fair
vscarney
404 1.0

A public event with rides, games, and shops

is mainly an amusement event rather than a sales or exhibition occasion
carnival
vscarney
114 2.7

A traveling show with rides, games, and small side shows

is a traveling amusement focused mainly on rides and games
funfair
vscarney
  • UK
1 2.5

A temporary event with rides and games for people to enjoy

is a traveling event set up temporarily in towns

How Big

festival
178 1.0
carnival
30 2.8
fair
404 1.0
annual fair
1 2.3
carney
  • US
8.6
funfair
  • UK
1 2.5

Surface Forms

carney singular
carneys plural

Morphology

carney = carnival (transparent) = carny + carnival

This sense is essentially a colloquial shortening of 'carnival' referring to the fair itself, a direct semantic shortening.

Etymology

Carney can also mean the fair itself, from carnival, so a carney is the 'traveling show' with rides, tents, and bright lights.