spectacle

[ spek-tuh-kuhl ]
See synonyms for spectacle on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. anything presented to the sight or view, especially something of a striking or impressive kind: The stars make a fine spectacle tonight.

  2. a public show or display, especially on a large scale: The coronation was a lavish spectacle.

  1. spectacles. eyeglasses, especially with pieces passing over or around the ears for holding them in place.

  2. Often spectacles.

    • something resembling spectacles in shape or function.

    • any of various devices suggesting spectacles, as one attached to a semaphore to display lights or different colors by colored glass.

  3. Obsolete. a spyglass.

Idioms about spectacle

  1. make a spectacle of oneself, to call attention to one's unseemly behavior; behave foolishly or badly in public: They tell me I made a spectacle of myself at the party last night.

Origin of spectacle

1
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 -cle2

Other words for spectacle

Other words from spectacle

  • spec·ta·cle·less, adjective
  • spec·ta·cle·like, adjective
  • su·per·spec·ta·cle, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for spectacle

spectacle

/ (ˈspɛktəkəl) /


noun
  1. a public display or performance, esp a showy or ceremonial one

  2. a thing or person seen, esp an unusual or ridiculous one: he makes a spectacle of himself

  1. a strange or interesting object or phenomenon

  2. (modifier) of or relating to spectacles: a spectacle case

Origin of spectacle

1
C14: via Old French from Latin spectaculum a show, from spectāre to watch, from specere to look at

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