corybantic

adjective [kawr-uh-ban-tik, kor-]

frenzied; agitated; unrestrained.

What is the origin

of corybantic?
The English adjective corybantic comes
from the Greek adjective Korybantikós, a
derivative of the
noun Korýbās (inflectional
stem Korýbant-) “a corybant, a priest of
the goddess Cybele in Phrygia (now in
west central Turkey),” and in Greek also
meaning “drunken person, enthusiast.”
Further etymology is risky: apart
from Korýbās and its derivatives being
non-Greek, not much can be said.
Phrygian is an obvious choice, but the
Phrygians themselves borrowed a great
deal from other peoples of ancient
Anatolia (Asian
Turkey). Corybantic entered English in
the 17th century.
How
is corybantic used?
It penetrates the mind, filling it with a babel
of distractions news items, mutually
irrelevant bits of information, blasts
of corybantic or sentimental music,
continually repeated doses of drama that
bring no catharsis, but merely create a
craving for daily or even hourly emotional
enemas.ALDOUS HUXLEY, THE PERENNIAL PHILOSOPHY,
1945

There was obviously no enthroned

authority here, no bejeweled king to pacify
when emotions ran wild, but complete
freedom to embrace joy
with corybantic abandonment.FRANK
BELKNAP LONG, "THE MAN FROM TIME," FANTASTIC
UNIVERSE, MARCH 1954