spectacles
Britishplural noun
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Often (informal) shortened to: specs. a pair of glasses for correcting defective vision
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cricket a score of 0 in each innings of a match
Explanation
Spectacles are eyeglasses. People wear spectacles because their vision is flawed. Spectacles is an old-fashioned word, but it means something you probably see — and maybe even use — every day: eyeglasses. People who have defective vision need spectacles to see properly. Spectacles have two main parts: the lenses and the frames that hold the lenses. An ophthalmologist (eye doctor) can test your eyes and see if you need spectacles. You can also call spectacles glasses or specs.
Vocabulary lists containing spectacles
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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"Harrison Bergeron"
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Mr. Popper’s Penguins
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Seasonal spectacles that now seem inseparable from October.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
With excitement seemingly non-negotiable for Ferguson, it is obvious why fans and players of that era resonate with a United that create spectacles.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
Harry Styles’ queer residency, and other spectacles like it, are what is left until a new bygone era arrives in time.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026
The wily, frizzy-haired Frenchman with red-framed spectacles taught Zucker everything he knows about clowning.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
The two scholars breathlessly handed the magnifying spectacles back and forth.
From "The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge" by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
