A party animal is someone who loves parties and is happy to celebrate until morning. It sounds humorous rather than judgemental. About themselves, people more often use it in the negative: I'm not much of a party animal, meaning I don't really enjoy loud crowds. The expression is informal; in an essay, write someone who enjoys parties instead.
When would you say a party animal?
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be a (real/big) party animal; not much of a party animal
- At university Sam was a real party animal, but now he's in bed by ten.
- Our new neighbour is a party animal, so weekends in our building are quite loud.
- You don't need to be a party animal to enjoy this festival: there's a quiet camping area too.
What changed
First versionI'm not much party animal, so I left the wedding at ten.
RevisionI'm not much of a party animal, so I left the wedding at ten.
Not much party animal sounds like a direct translation, and it is missing two words. English has a set pattern for this: not much of a + noun, as in I'm not much of a cook or I'm not much of a party animal. The correction adds two words: of a.
A social butterfly also enjoys company, but in a different way: they make friends easily and flit from one person to the next. She's a social butterfly at conferences. A party animal parties and dances until morning, while a social butterfly may go home at nine after meeting everyone.
Your turn
Kate goes dancing every weekend and knows every club in town, but on weekdays she's asleep by ten. She's a real ___.
Show the answer
party animal — Kate goes dancing every weekend and knows every club in town, so she loves parties: party animal. A night owl goes to bed late and thinks better in the evening, but Kate is asleep by ten on weekdays.
Say whether you like parties. Use party animal in a positive or negative sentence, and say how you usually spend a Friday evening.
I'm not much of a party animal, so on Friday evenings I usually cook dinner and watch a film with my flatmate.
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