orgy

English

Etymology

Originally in plural from French orgies, from Latin orgia, from Ancient Greek ὄργια (órgia, “secret rites, mysteries”).

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɔː.d͡ʒi/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈɔɹd͡ʒi/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)d͡ʒi

Noun

orgy (plural orgies)

  1. (originally) Secret rites or ceremonies, typically involving riotous and dissolute behavior, including dancing, drunkenness and indiscriminate sexual activity, undertaken in honor of various pagan gods or goddesses (such as Attis, Bacchus, Ceres, Dionysus, Osiris, etc). [from 16th c.]
    • 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 39:
      Human sacrifices of a definitely black magical order took place at the tomb of Osiris, while similar orgies with human victims were performed at Heliopolis.
  2. A gathering of people to engage in group sex.
    Synonym: (vulgar) fuckfest
  3. An instance or period of excessive indulgence in a specified activity.
    • 2006 March 20, Nintendo Software Technology, Metroid Prime Hunters, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Logbook – Lore:
      Gorea 07: 'OUR DEFENSES WERE USELESS AGAINST GOREA AS IT SWEPT THROUGH OUR EMPIRE IN AN ORGY OF ANNIHILATION.'
    • 2010 January 16, Nick Gillett, “This week's games reviews”, in The Guardian‎[1]:
      It's an orgy of perfectly choreographed cartoon uber violence and is the game the Devil May Cry series always promised but never delivered.
    • 2024 September 28, Harry Blank, “Not Ready for Prime Time”, in Deadlined, →ISBN, page 604:
      The wails of the injured and the roars of the dead-on-the-march overwhelmed the tinny speakers in the cell, and they all watched as nearly one thousand people reduced themselves to a few frantic hundred in less than an hour, then settled into a sustained orgy of battery, rapine and rape with no end in sight but the total depopulation of the entire facility.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

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