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HOW TO PRONOUNCE

gala

/ˈɡælə/

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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:33
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What does gala mean?

adjective

  1. Celebratory; festive.

noun

  1. Pomp, show, or festivity.
  2. A competition.
More meanings (6)

noun

  1. A showy and festive party.
  2. A red-skinned variety of eating apple.
  3. A type of apple, a cross-pollination between Kidd's Orange Red and Golden Delicious.
  4. (historical) A member of an androgynous class of priests of the Sumerian goddess Inanna.

proper noun

  1. (informal) Galashiels, a town in Scotland.
  2. Galatasaray S.K. (a Turkish sports club best known for its football team)

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ˈɡælə/

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Other dictionary pronunciations

/ˈɡeɪlə//ˈɡɑlə/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

Debienne and Poligny, the managers of the Opera, were giving a last gala performance to mark their retirement.
Gaston LerouxThe Phantom of the OperaProject Gutenberg ebook #175
Invitations are sent to all your neighbouring friends, who look forward to each other's annual Pooneah as a great gala day.
James InglisSport and Work on the Nepaul Frontier Twelve Years Sporting Reminiscences of an Indigo PlanterProject Gutenberg ebook #10818
More book examples (3)
Part of the road lay along Gala Water, and in summer time, when the river-bed was dry, the carrier used it as a road.
Samuel SmilesThe Life of Thomas Telford, Civil Engineer With an Introductory History of Roads and Travelling in Great BritainProject Gutenberg ebook #939
It was a gala night for the homeless, for the police were elsewhere; and each bench was jammed with sleeping occupants.
Jack LondonThe People of the AbyssProject Gutenberg ebook #1688
On gala days the town fires its great guns, which echo like popguns to these woods, and some waifs of martial music occasionally penetrate thus far.
Henry David ThoreauWalden, and On The Duty Of Civil DisobedienceProject Gutenberg ebook #205