sideshow
Americannoun
-
sideshows
plural
-
a minor show or exhibition in connection with a principal one, as at a circus.
-
any subordinate event or matter.
noun
-
a small show or entertainment offered in conjunction with a larger attraction, as at a circus or fair
-
a subordinate event or incident
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of sideshow
An Americanism dating back to 1840–50
Explanation
The tattooed lady, sword swallower, and frog man are some of the people you might meet at a sideshow, a smaller show that's part of a carnival or circus. A sideshow is also something that distracts from a main event. The first sideshows happened at the Barnum & Bailey Circus, from the idea that some performers would be better viewed up close, instead of in a large tent. The popularity of sideshows grew through the first half of the 20th century. Attractions ranged from so-called "freaks" like the contortionists to tricks like sword swallowing and fire breathing. Today sideshow is often used for something that takes attention away from what's really important.
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.
See Examples For:
Start-ups, she told the Sunday Times, external, were being treated as a "sideshow" and should not be pushed to the "margins of economic policy".
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026
Soon enough, JD could graduate from the sideshow to the center ring.
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
Perhaps the biggest sideshow has been the struggle for influence around the promotion itself.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
But the conference is increasingly defined by its sideshow of parties: galas in rooftop bars, museum mixers and dinners held in the city’s colonial-era hotels.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Since I had been blamed for the mess, a few of the other children came to check on me as if I were a sideshow.
From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
Newsrooms had their websites and fledgling e-commerce businesses, but they were sideshows at best.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 2024
Several thousand people paid real money to come cheer a dozen teams at the debut event set for Saturday in St. Augustine, with contests and sideshows inspired by real events from America’s most surreal state.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 23, 2024
Consider the tourist exhibits in ancient Sparta, which by Roman times had become a theme park of wonders and sideshows.
From Slate ● Feb. 11, 2024
But these often felt like sideshows, guidebooks: boosterish accessories to a main event that is now struggling to regain and maintain its centrality in international culture.
From New York Times ● Mar. 7, 2023
Remembering Emma’s stories of performing in traveling sideshows with Miss Peregrine and the others, I turned to her and asked, “Are they peculiar?”
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
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.
