spectacle
/ˈspɛktək(ə)l
/noun
1A visually striking performance or display: the acrobatic feats make a good spectacle [mass noun]: the show is pure spectacle...
- Heather Taylor and Amy Chu produced and performed in the spectacle.
- A handful of other artists staged theatrical public spectacles, performances grounded in the sociologies of place and personality.
- Everywhere amazing spectacles were being performed, as crowds gathered and applauded the snake charmers, coal-walkers, and fire-eaters.
Synonyms
display, show, performance, presentation, exhibition, pageant, parade, extravaganza
1.1An event or scene regarded in terms of its visual impact: the spectacle of a city’s mass grief...
- But the unseemly scenes provided an entertaining spectacle for those drinking in the evening sun outside the pub.
- The two of them whooped and hollered some more; their wives sighed at the spectacle and regarded each other with love.
- It would be an odd spectacle, for two friends of opposite sex parading through the town on horses with no saddle.
Synonyms
sight, vision, view, scene, prospect, vista, outlook, picture
Phrases
make a spectacle of oneself
Origin
Middle English: via Old French from Latin spectaculum 'public show', from spectare, frequentative of specere 'to look'.
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