Meanings
nounRoman holiday (plural Roman holidays)
plural Roman holidays
- A form of public entertainment characterized by violence, degradation and suffering.
Two guys swung at each other's legs with whips, skipping into the air. Such Roman holiday high jinks were not reassuring to me.
1958, Saul Bellow, Henderson the Rain King
Origin
From the gladiatorial contests of Ancient Rome.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
Roman holiday. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Roman%20holiday
MLA
“Roman holiday.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Roman%20holiday. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Roman holiday,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Roman%20holiday.
Source: Roman holiday on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.