beauty contestn.
/ˈbjuːtɪ ˌkɒntɛst/, U.S. /ˈbjudi ˌkɑnˌtɛst/ 1. An event in which competitors (usually women) are judged on attractiveness, with the winner often receiving an honorary title (see miss n.2 2e). Also in extended use. Cf. beauty pageant n. at beauty n. Compounds 2, beauty parade n. 1.In some competitions, the judging may also incorporate talent demonstrations, personal interviews, etc.
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the mind > attention and judgement > beauty > [noun] > beauty contest
beauty show1856
beauty contest1880
beauty parade1887
beauty pageant1911
pageant1911
1880 Daily News 25 June 5/8 The last coach to arrive was that of Lord Fife, whose four black browns would perhaps have borne the bell in a beauty contest.
1882 Cleveland (Ohio) Herald 28 Dec. 1/1 St. Louis has followed in the wake of New York City by holding a personal beauty contest.
1899 A. M. Binstead Gal's Gossip v. 77 Just the sort of woman who could apparently hold her own either in a beauty contest, a political debate, or a scrape.
1947 Life 17 Nov. 45/3 Last April the governor, acting as a judge in a beauty contest, selected her as ‘Miss South Carolina’.
1966 Playboy June 198/1 The exhibitionistic fantasy..is most modestly manifested by an ambition to win fame and fortune as a beauty-contest sex goddess.
1994 Independent (Nexis) 29 Jan. 45 With its crisp form, stub tail and handsome detailing, it wins the family car beauty contest by a mile.
2003 Gay Times Feb. 77 The book traces the history of the beauty contest..from Miss Nude UK,..Mr Gay UK and The Alternative Miss World.
2.
a. Politics (originally and chiefly U.S.) (usually depreciative). A contest (esp. for political office) in which the outcome is thought to be influenced more by the personalities and media image of the candidates than by their policies or capabilities.Sometimes used with specific reference to the U.S. presidential primary elections: see primary election at primary adj. 8.
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1914 Bull. Amer. Libr. Assoc. 8 274/2 The same strictures hold against the ‘beauty’ contests which have marked the choice of state librarians in some of the southern states.
1952 N.Y. Times 10 Feb. 56/4 At one place on the ballot voters mark their choice for President, but this is known as a ‘beauty contest’ because is [sic] has no bearing on the election of delegates.
1960 Los Angeles Times 9 Jan. 3/1 Nixon and Kennedy are not likely to have any opposition in the so-called beauty-contest phase of the balloting.
1976 National Observer (U.S.) 14 Feb. 5/1 The beauty contest for Vice President. Democrats can choose either Auburn Lee Packwood or Ray Rollinson.
1996 D. Frum What’s Right 14 A contest as avidly fought and as important as any early caucus or straw-poll beauty contest.
2010 Morning Star (Nexis) 10 June Labour's leadership election could become a beauty contest between the five candidates—or it could become a source of serious and vibrant political debate.
b. Business. A competitive tendering process in which rival organizations rely heavily on presentation and public relations.
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1976 Forbes (Nexis) 1 June 60 The distributorship selection turned into a beauty contest that was the talk of Texas bar-rooms for three months.
1988 Times 30 Apr. 4/1 ‘Beauty contests’ in which trade unions parade before employers to win single recognition deals will be stamped out.
1994 Wall St. Jrnl. 13 May b3/3 The so-called beauty contests in which several investment banks line up to try to win a municipality's bond business.
2002 P. Augar & J. Palmer Rise Player Manager ix. 205 Later we held a beauty contest with four firms presenting.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1880