parade

American  

[puh-reyd] / pəˈreɪd /

noun

parades plural

1. a large public procession, usually including a marching band and often of a festive nature, held in honor of an anniversary, person, event, etc.

2. a military ceremony involving the formation and marching of troop units, often combined with saluting the lowering of the flag at the end of the day.

3. the assembly of troops for inspection or display.

4. a place where troops regularly assemble for inspection or display.

5. a continual passing by, as of people, objects, or events.

   the parade of pedestrians past the office; the parade of the seasons.

6. an ostentatious display.

   to make a parade of one's religious beliefs.

7. Chiefly British.

   1. a group or procession of promenaders.

   2. a promenade.

8. Fortification. the level space forming the interior or enclosed area of a fortification.

9. Fencing. a parry.

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verb (used with object)

parades, present (3rd person singular) paraded, past participle, past parading present participle

1. to walk up and down on or in.

2. to make parade of; display ostentatiously.

   Synonyms:

   flourish, flaunt, show

   Antonyms:

   conceal

3. to cause to march or proceed for display.

verb (used without object)

parades, present (3rd person singular) paraded, past participle, past parading present participle

1. to march in a procession.

2. to promenade in a public place, especially in order to show off.

3. to assemble in military order for display.

4. to assume a false or misleading appearance.

   international pressure that parades as foreign aid.

parade British  

/ pəˈreɪd /

noun

1. an ordered, esp ceremonial, march, assembly, or procession, as of troops being reviewed

   on parade

2. Also called: parade ground.  a place where military formations regularly assemble

3. a visible show or display

   to make a parade of one's grief

4. a public promenade or street of shops

5. a successive display of things or people

6. the interior area of a fortification

7. a parry in fencing

8. to hinder someone's enjoyment; upset someone's plans

9. 1. on display

   2. showing oneself off

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verb

1. to walk or march, esp in a procession (through)

   to parade the streets

2. (tr) to exhibit or flaunt

   he was parading his medals

3. (tr) to cause to assemble in formation, as for a military parade

4. (intr) to walk about in a public place

parade Idioms  

1. see hit parade; rain on one's parade.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• parader
  noun
• paradeful
  adjective
• paradeless
  adjective
• paradelike
  adjective
• unparaded
  adjective
• paradingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• parades
  plural

Participles

• parading
  present
• paraded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• parade
  simple
• parades
  simple
• have paraded
  perfect
• has paraded
  perfect
• am parading
  progressive
• are parading
  progressive
• is parading
  progressive
• have been parading
  perfect progressive
• has been parading
  perfect progressive

Past

• paraded
  simple
• had paraded
  perfect
• was parading
  progressive
• were parading
  progressive
• had been parading
  perfect progressive

Future

• will parade
  simple
• will have paraded
  perfect
• will be parading
  progressive
• will have been parading
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of parade

1650–60; < French, Middle French < Spanish parada a stop, stopping place, noun use of feminine of parado, past participle of parar to stop, end < Latin parāre to set. See compare, parry, -ade ¹

Explanation

A parade is a group of people marching in ceremony, celebration, or protest. Often a parade involves fire trucks, costumed adults throwing candy to children, baton twirlers, and members of the armed forces. Parade is also a verb, meaning to walk or march ostentatiously. When your sister first brings home her prom dress, she might parade around the living room after putting it on so everyone can see it. As a noun parade is an event in which a whole lot of people march in the streets — they could be wearing prom dresses, but more likely they're celebrating of a holiday or taking part in a military action.

Example Sentences

The Old Bailey was told that the physical description she gave and details of the address where the man lived matched Levy, and that she had picked him out in an identification parade.

From BBC • Jun. 29, 2026

OpenAI’s apparent skittishness about an IPO may turn out to be company specific, and not a sign that the parade of unicorns coming to Wall Street is about to end.

From Barron's • Jun. 26, 2026

Five hours before kickoff, after spending the morning celebrating with fellow fans before attending the team parade, Wright received an email from StubHub informing him that his tickets couldn’t be transferred.

From Slate • Jun. 24, 2026

Towns was a key member of the Knicks team that defeated the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals and celebrated with a championship parade in Lower Manhattan last week.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 23, 2026

Just at that moment the parade begins, and everyone cheers.

From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar

Related Words

• brandish
• demonstrate
• flash
• prance
• strut
• swagger
• trot out