spectacle

[ spek-tuh-kuhl ]

noun

1. anything presented to the sight or view, especially something of a striking or impressive kind:

   The stars make a fine spectacle tonight.

   Synonyms: show, sight, wonder, marvel

2. a public show or display, especially on a large scale:

   The coronation was a lavish spectacle.

3. spectacles. eyeglasses, especially with pieces passing over or around the ears for holding them in place.
4. Often spectacles.
   1. something resembling spectacles in shape or function.
   2. any of various devices suggesting spectacles, as one attached to a semaphore to display lights or different colors by colored glass.
5. Obsolete. a spyglass.

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

3. a strange or interesting object or phenomenon
4. modifier of or relating to spectacles

   a spectacle case

Other Words From

• specta·cle·less adjective
• specta·cle·like adjective
• super·specta·cle noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of spectacle¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of spectacle¹

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

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

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.

Example Sentences

His word to us was: “It can’t be just spectacle — you’ve got to capture the humanity of what’s happening.”

From Los Angeles Times

And now, memory prompts are a central part of many apps, from Instagram and Snapchat to a streaming app like Spotify, which makes a huge deal out of “Spotify Wrapped”—a yearly fanfare where our secret listening habits are turned into a social media spectacle.

From Slate

To conduct their six-year study, the Australian scientists traveled to Seal Island off the coast of South Africa, the setting for countless “Shark Week” episodes and YouTube videos celebrating the sheer spectacle, and jaw-dropping violence, of great whites rocketing up from the depths and breaching the surface with doomed seals clutched in their mighty jaws.

From Los Angeles Times

"It’s a very interesting spectacle for people but I do understand the concerns that people have as well," Taylor tells BBC Sport.

From BBC

And she found herself in the right place at the right time: Hollywood at the dawn of the ’60s, “with its appeal to the irrational and the unreal,” writes Anolik, “its provocation of desire and volatility; its worship of sex and spectacle.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• comedy
• demonstration
• display
• drama
• event
• extravaganza
• movie
• pageant
• parade
• performance
• phenomenon
• scene
• sight
• spectacular
• tableau