spectacle
Americannoun
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anything presented to the sight or view, especially something of a striking or impressive kind.
The stars make a fine spectacle tonight.
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a public show or display, especially on a large scale.
The coronation was a lavish spectacle.
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spectacles. eyeglasses, especially with pieces passing over or around the ears for holding them in place.
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Often spectacles.
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something resembling spectacles in shape or function.
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any of various devices suggesting spectacles, as one attached to a semaphore to display lights or different colors by colored glass.
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Obsolete. a spyglass.
idioms
noun
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a public display or performance, esp a showy or ceremonial one
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a thing or person seen, esp an unusual or ridiculous one
he makes a spectacle of himself
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a strange or interesting object or phenomenon
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(modifier) of or relating to spectacles
a spectacle case
Other Word Forms
- spectacleless adjective
- spectaclelike adjective
- superspectacle noun
Etymology
Origin of spectacle
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Latin spectāculum “sight, spectacle,” from spectā(re) “to look at,” literally, “to look repeatedly” (from specere “to look, regard, see”) + -culum -cle 2
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.
“Ghostbusters” and “Back to the Future”; films that weren’t necessarily designed to become franchises, but had the big budgets, flashy stars and studio spectacle that comprised your typical blockbuster.
From Salon
The media’s persistent focus on which celebrities or newcomers might enter the race reflects journalists’ preferences for novelty and spectacle rather than genuine voter demand for such candidates.
From Los Angeles Times
And a sense of spectacle was provided by a vibrant atmosphere on a sunny Sydney Sunday morning.
From BBC
Venezuelans had watched the unfolding spectacle from their homes, using social media to exchange images of explosions and the sounds of bombardment.
From Los Angeles Times
And on Thursday night in New Orleans, college football’s weekend of madness saved its wildest spectacle for last.
Definitions 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.
