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revel

/ˈɹɛv.əl/noun, verb

revel is a noun meaning “An instance of merrymaking; a celebration” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled R-E-V-E-L and has 2 syllables, and it appears 1.3 times per million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of revel is revels.

What does revel mean?

noun

  1. 1

    An instance of merrymaking; a celebration.

  2. 2

    A kind of dance.

  3. 3

    A wake for the dead.

  4. 4

    Alternative form of reveal.

verb

  1. 1

    To make merry; to have a happy, lively time.

    If there bee any lasie fellow, any that cannot away with worke, any that would wallow in pleasures, hee is hastie to be priested. And when hee is made one, and has gotten a benefice, he consorts with his neighbour priests, who are altogethe

  2. 2

    To take delight (in something).

  3. 3

    obsoleteTo draw back; to retract.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you pronounce revel?

  • US /ˈɹɛv.əl/

Revel has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-revel.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of revel

  • revels plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • reveling US, participle, present
  • revelling UK, participle, present
  • reveled US, participle, past
  • revelled UK, participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How common is revel?

Revel appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 25,070th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

Words people confuse with revel

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

reveal vs revel0 B

Also written: reveal.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Revel in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
GermanAusgelassenheit, Feier (An instance of merry-making; a celebration), feiern, schwelgen (make merry)
Spanishjuerga, parranda (An instance of merry-making; a celebration), celebrar (make merry), deleitarse con, gozar de (take delight (in))
Portugueseesbaldar-se (make merry)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does revel come from?

From Middle English revelen, from Old French revel, from reveler (“to be disorderly, to make merry”), from Latin rebello (“to rebel”). Doublet of rebel.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).