masquerade party
1
4.3
- noun
- /ˌmæskəˈreɪd ˈpɑrti/
:
fiesta de máscaras
- The invitations for the masquerade party requested that guests wear masks and costumes.
Examples
-
My nephew here, he wanted to give a masquerade party, and I said, hey, I mean, there's a lot of people in this business walking around with some kind of mask on.
-
Because this is not a costume party, it's a masquerade party.
-
- Yeah, it's sort of a masquerade party.
-
Your masquerade party starts in an hour.
-
I kissed this amazing girl at this masquerade party.
-
It seems that we have happened upon a masquerade party in progress.
Academic text (2001) -
All passengers are invited to the masquerade party in the acapulco lounge.
-
Throws a masquerade party every year for his top buyers in his I-probably-have-a-tiny-penis villa in Valencia.
-
In Act III of A Doll House, the dying Dr. Rank tells the Helmers that at the next masquerade party he'll be wearing such a hat.
Academic text (1995) -
I had a gut feeling it was you; however, as we all know, with the extended Halloween masquerade party we had here, where people were dressing up as everyone else, one couldn't be 100% sure who they were talking to.
Blog text (18)
Synonyms
41
6.4
A party where people wear costumes and face coverings, often with dancing
14
6.8
A party where people wear masks and fancy costumes
4
4.8
A formal party where guests wear masks and costumes to hide who they are
3
9.9
A fancy royal party with music and dancing where people wear masks and costumes
2
4.3
A formal party where people wear masks and fancy costumes
1
7.0
A formal party where people wear costumes and masks and dance
How Formal
- Formal
4
4.8
1
4.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'masquerade' denotes a masked/costumed social dance and 'party' denotes a celebratory gathering, so a learner who knows both words can infer a party with masks and costumes. The noun + party pattern is a regular, cross-linguistic combinatory pattern (e.g. 'birthday party', 'costume party'), making the expression immediately understandable to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Masquerade party comes from old social events where people wore masks at a party to hide who they were. So, the phrase now means 'a party where guests wear costumes and masks to hide who they are'.