maenad
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈmeɪnæd/
- Literature
:
maenada
- The version of spirituality embraced by the ecstatic maenads of Field's 1889 volume Long Ago, who "dance with lightsome feet,
Examples
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The sculpture and its specific relation to Mies's reflective partition walls give women a role that fluctuates between mannequin and maenad, statue and goddess, even ornament and architecture.
Fiction book (1992) -
The kids are going wild—writhing like maenads in his intoxicating embrace.
Fiction book (1991) -
"I am the last maenad.
Fiction book (1997) -
You do remember the maenads?
Fiction book (1997) -
I think Miss Laura is what Ovid might call a Maenad.
-
Sookie, vision of love and beauty, I am prostrate that the wicked evil maenad violated your smooth and voluptuous body in an attempt to deliver a message to me.
Blog text (26) -
"Are you following us?" When she left, she walked quickly across the stones and around the groups, her long skirt swaying and rippling like the draped folds of a dancing maenad.
Fiction book (1994) -
And as the quotation demonstrates, this balance of opposites permeates not just his logic but his tone, with its combination of passion and dignity, Maenad and Muse.
Academic text (1991) -
Her eyes were wide, mouth slightly open—a look of ecstasy that I've seen on statues of dancing maenads.
Fiction book (1994) -
In the ancient festival, the women danced wildly, possessed like maenads celebrating Dionysus.
Synonyms
2
9.9
Women who worship the god of wine in wild, excited dances
A person who joins wild, joyful celebrations with music and dance
How Frenzied
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word maenad comes from an old Greek root main meaning 'to rave', and it named women who followed the god Dionysus in wild, very excited dances. Think of English mania or maniac, which are like the same root, so a maenad is used today for a woman who behaves in a wild or frenzied way.