waxworks

American  

[waks-wurks] / ˈwæksˌwɜrks /

noun

(usually used with a singular verb)

waxworks plural

1. an exhibition of or a museum for displaying wax figures, ornaments, etc.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• waxworks
  plural

Etymology

Origin of waxworks

First recorded in 1690–1700; wax ¹ + work ( def. ) + -s ³ ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

waxworks

At Barnum’s American Museum in New York City, visitors could see America’s first aquarium, a menagerie of exotic animals, performances by magicians and ventriloquists, and waxworks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 25, 2026

The figure will feature alongside waxworks of Timothée Chalamet, Harry Styles and Zendaya as part of the attraction's Awards Party zone.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2025

When you walk through a crowd of strangers it’s next door to impossible not to imagine that they’re all waxworks, but probably they’re thinking just the same about you.

From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2025

As I did, I kept flashing on “Sunset Boulevard,” Billy Wilder’s grim 1950 satire about another studio writer adrift in the waxworks.

From New York Times ● Jan. 1, 2021

Hugo and I caught each other's eye and for one moment we were alone in a roomful of waxworks.

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell