ENGLISH
REFERENCE

fest

n.
US //ˈfɛst// UK //fˈɛst// fest
  1. 1 a festival or gathering (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Informal

    a large event or celebration focused on one thing, like music or food.

    a festival or large-scale gathering centered around a specific theme or interest; almost exclusively used as a suffix in compounds.

    Example

    The city is hosting a huge jazz fest in the park this weekend.

    Example

    The local arts council organized a weekend-long film fest to showcase the works of emerging directors from the region.

    Usage

    Usually attached to the end of a noun with or without a hyphen, such as 'film-fest' or 'foodfest'.
  2. 2 a lot of one thing (n.)
    C1 Advanced Informal Humorous

    a situation where there is a lot of one specific activity, often something annoying or silly.

    a situation or event characterized by an excessive amount of a particular quality or activity; typically used as a suffix.

    Example

    That long meeting was a total snooze-fest and I almost fell asleep.

    Example

    The romantic comedy turned into a complete sob-fest by the final act, leaving the entire audience in tears.

    Usage

    Commonly used to create humorous or critical nouns like 'snooze-fest' for something boring or 'sob-fest' for a sad movie.

    Teacher's tip

    This sense is often used to complain about something being 'too much' of a certain thing; learners should use it in casual conversation rather than formal writing.
Origin

Borrowed from German Fest (“feast, festival, party”), from Middle High German fëst, from Latin festum, from which last are also English feast, festival, festivity (see these).

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Last updated June 20, 2026