saturnalia UK /ˌsætəˈneɪli.ə/US /ˌsætɚˈneɪli.ə/ noun1 •A period or occasion of general license, in which the passions or vices have riotous indulgence; a period of unrestrained revelry.They lodged men and women on the same floor; and with the night there began a saturnalia of debauchery—scenes such as never before had been witnessed in America. — 1905 formsSaturnalias · saturnalias