life of the celebration
- noun
- Informal
:
alma de la fiesta
- She was truly the life of the celebration, keeping everyone laughing and dancing all night.
Examples
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Whenever he's around, he's the life of the celebration and lifts everyone's spirits.
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At every party, Sarah is truly the life of the celebration.
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At the reunion, Aunt Clara was the life of the celebration with her stories and jokes.
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Everyone agrees that John is the life of the celebration!
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At the reunion, Aunt Clara was the life of the celebration with her stories and jokes.
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She was truly the life of the celebration, keeping everyone laughing and dancing all night.
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Whenever he's around, he's the life of the celebration and lifts everyone's spirits.
Synonyms
15
3.5
A person who is the most lively and entertaining at a party
13
3.7
A person who is lively and makes people laugh at parties
A person who makes parties fun by being lively and entertaining others
A person who makes a social event fun by being energetic and funny
A person who makes others laugh and enjoy themselves
Antonyms
How Lively
- Informal
202
1.7
21
1.6
89
1.0
4
5.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
life + of + the + celebration
The meaning 'the most lively and entertaining person at an event' is directly derived from combining 'life' (liveliness) with 'of the celebration' (the event that is enlivened), so the sense is compositional. This noun-of-noun pattern is common across languages and follows regular English semantics, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would very likely infer the meaning.
Etymology
Life of the celebration may come from the simple image of someone bringing life to a celebration — they laugh, dance, and talk so the room feels alive. So it means 'the most lively and entertaining person' who makes the event fun for others.