beauty contest

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noun

a competition in which the entrants, usually women, are judged as to physical beauty and sometimes personality and talent, with the winners awarded prizes or titles.

Informal. any contest, election, etc., that is decided on the basis of popularity.

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Origin of beauty contest

First recorded in 1895–1900

Words nearby beauty contest

beautify, beauty, “Beauty and the Beast”, beautyberry, beauty-bush, beauty contest, Beauty is only skin deep, beauty quark, beauty queen, beauty salon, beauty sleep

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use beauty contest in a sentence

At the age of 27, Logan gained notoriety as the co-founder, along with Baltimore’s Divine, of the Alternative Miss World contest, an inclusive beauty contest open to transvestites, the old and the young, men and women.
Baltimore’s ‘Visionary’ curator prepares to step down|Ed Gunts|September 23, 2021|Washington Blade
You enter a beauty contest and the judges like your fastball, so you got to have it.
Peyton Glavine, son of Tom, has his father’s change-up and his own climb ahead|Jesse Dougherty|September 9, 2021|Washington Post
The separate components were assembled by pageant producers to create the final show, marking the first time that the 67-year-old beauty contest has been produced virtually.
Model Revolutionaries Rock Fashion|Sean Culligan|August 5, 2021|Ozy
Impressing editors with stories she wrote on her own time, she was assigned to cover beauty contests and dog shows.
Lucinda Franks, Pulitzer-winning journalist and author, dies at 74|Harrison Smith|May 6, 2021|Washington Post

If you read the reactions, she was billed as ‘Beauty and Brains.’
Why Was Bess Myerson the First and Last Jewish Miss America?|Emily Shire|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Her Miss America win transcended mere superficial beauty standards.
Why Was Bess Myerson the First and Last Jewish Miss America?|Emily Shire|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Also, she was tall and thin, too, further adding to the ways she met the physical beauty conventions.
Why Was Bess Myerson the First and Last Jewish Miss America?|Emily Shire|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
There was so much beauty, talent, potential, and most importantly, honesty in your work.
Dear Leelah, We Will Fight On For You: A Letter to a Dead Trans Teen|Parker Molloy|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
There was something beautiful about this, and I still see that beauty.
Random Hook-Ups or Dry Spells: Why Millennials Flunk College Dating|Ellie Schaack|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
A flash of surprise and pleasure lit the fine eyes of the haughty beauty perched up there on the palace wall.
The Red Year|Louis Tracy
Let the thought of self pass in, and the beauty of great action is gone, like the bloom from a soiled flower.
Pearls of Thought|Maturin M. Ballou
The place was well defended by earthworks and natural parapets, and for several hours the issue of the contest was doubtful.
The Philippine Islands|John Foreman
The beauty, the mystery,—this fierce sunshine or something—stir——' She hesitated for a fraction of a second.
The Wave|Algernon Blackwood
Thy eye desireth favour and beauty, but more than these green sown fields.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various

British Dictionary definitions for beauty contest

beauty contest

noun

a competition in which the participants, usually women, are judged on their attractiveness, with a prize, and often a title, awarded to the winner

informal any contest decided on the basis of superficial attractiveness, popularity, etcthe referendum might turn into a party political beauty contest

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012