Meanings
plural shindigs
- A noisy party or festivities.
They'd get up a regular shindig, if it wasn't for making too much noise.
1861, “Mr. and Mrs. Rasher”, in Godey's Magazine, volume 62, page 3483 more examples
"That's a darn shame. Well–I suppose you're waiting for somebody to take you out to some big shindig, Sir Gerald." "Shindig? Oh. Shindig. No, to tell you the truth, I was wondering what the deuce I could do this evening[…]"
1922, Sinclair Lewis, chapter XIX, in Babbitt, section IIIThere was bound to be a New Year's shindig going on in his apartment down on Las Palmas.
1950, 45:01 from the start, in Sunset Blvd.Which suggests that the man in the middle of what will be the planet’s splashiest shindig this weekend far prefers the stillness and privacy he finds about 1,500 miles away from London, on unpaved roads and rugged woods near the Carpathian Mountains.
2023 May 1, David Segal, “In Transylvania, Anyone With $200 Can Live Like a King. (Well, One Specific King.)”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 17 Jun 2023 - A noisy argument.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Scottish Gaelicsìnteag“jump, leap”
- Englishshindig
Origin uncertain; perhaps an alteration of shindy, or from Scottish Gaelic sìnteag (“jump, leap”).
More words from Scottish Gaelic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian шумна веселба, шумен спор
- шумна веселба (šumna veselba)noisy party or festivity
- шумен спор (šumen spor)noisy argument
French fiesta
- fiestanoisy party or festivity
German Rummel, Fete
- Rummelnoisy party or festivity
- Fetenoisy party or festivity
- Partynoisy party or festivity
- Festivalnoisy party or festivity
- Krachnoisy argument
- Auseinandersetzungnoisy argument
Polish biesiada
- biesiadanoisy party or festivity
Portuguese arrasta-pé
- arrasta-pénoisy party or festivity
Scottish Gaelic hòro-gheallaidh
- hòro-gheallaidhnoisy party or festivity
Spanish gran fiesta, gran celebración
- gran fiestanoisy party or festivity
- gran celebraciónnoisy party or festivity
- juerganoisy party or festivity
- jolgorionoisy party or festivity
- jaleonoisy party or festivity
- guatequenoisy party or festivity
- fuerte altercadonoisy argument
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
shindig. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shindig
“shindig.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shindig. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shindig,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shindig.
Source: shindig on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.