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party animal

party animal

8 4.0
A person who often goes to parties and likes to have fun
  • noun
  • /ˈpɑrti ˈænɪməl/
  • Informal
translation icon : fiestero
  • My roommate is such a party animal; she's always organizing events and inviting friends over.
  • a big party animal
  • a real party animal
  • just a party animal

No, because you were a party animal.

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Examples

Synonyms

partier
vsparty animal
  • Informal
22 3.9

A person who often goes to parties and enjoys meeting people

emphasizes frequent enthusiasm rather than any specific lively role
life of the party
vsparty animal
  • Informal
15 3.5

A person who is the most lively and entertaining at a party

describes frequent attendance and enjoyment rather than being the main entertainer
party girl
vsparty animal
  • Informal
11 6.3

A woman who often goes to parties and is lively

is gender neutral and covers any enthusiastic frequent attendee
partygoer
vsparty animal
10 3.0

A person who often goes to parties and enjoys them

is the broader friendly phrase for the same idea
reveler
vsparty animal
  • US
10 4.6

A person who loudly enjoys a party or festival

refers more to ongoing frequent attendance and general sociable enjoyment
partyer
vsparty animal
  • Informal
1 3.7

A person who likes going to parties and meeting people

stresses frequent attendance and general enjoyment rather than specific behaviour
life and soul of the party
vsparty animal
  • Informal
3.9

A person who makes parties fun by being lively and entertaining others

focuses more on frequent attendance and general sociability than performance

Antonyms

21 5.1

A person who prefers being alone or small groups and feels tired by social activity

8 5.5

A person who likes to stay at home rather than go out

How Social

life of the party
  • Informal
15 3.5
party animal
  • Informal
8 4.0
partygoer
10 3.0
socializer
  • US
1 3.8

Surface Forms

party animal singular
party animals plural

Morphology

party + animal

The noun 'party' clearly signals social gatherings, while 'animal' is used metaphorically to mean someone driven by strong appetites or instincts; together they plausibly suggest a person who avidly attends parties. Because understanding the idiomatic, evaluative use of 'animal' as an intensifier requires recognizing a metaphorical shift rather than strict compositionality, a B1 learner could guess the general idea but not fully predict the exact social nuance without exposure.

Etymology

The phrase party animal paints a picture of someone at a party acting like an excited animal—loud, energetic, and always on the move. So it came to mean 'someone who loves going to parties and socializing'.