beauty contest
noun
1
a
: an assemblage of girls or women at which judges select the most beautiful
called also beauty pageant
b
: a contest or competitive situation that is likened to a traditional beauty contest especially in involving judgments made on the basis of physical attractiveness or popular appeal
… an elite automotive expo and beauty contest where cars of only the highest caliber …—
Hannah Elliott
Hannah Elliott2
US politics
: a presidential primary election in which the popular vote does not determine the number of convention delegates a candidate receives
Mr. Ford and Mr. Reagan are listed in the Republican preferential primary or "beauty contest."—Charles Mohr
Charles MohrExamples of beauty contest in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
According to family lore, my mother had been a short, plain, serious girl who was outshone by her two tall, beautiful, glamorous sisters, both of whom won local beauty contests.
—Mary Gaitskill, The New Yorker, 5 Feb. 2024
But while most past beauty contests or even dual systems like the old Texas Two-Step usually had a similar set of candidates on each ballot, Trump and Haley not going head-to-head on any ballot in Nevada has made today's beauty contest distinctly ornamental.
—Geoffrey Skelley, ABC News, 5 Feb. 2024
Highlights include an agility course, on-site adoptions and a beauty contest with several hundred exotic cats from across the country.
—The San Diego Union-Tribune Staff, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Jan. 2024
But believe it or not there’s a festival devoted to Damascus goats, complete with a beauty contest to select the most attractive of these bizarre animals from around the Persian Gulf.
—Discover Magazine, 8 Jan. 2024
The pageant is watched every year by millions of people in France and is the oldest-running beauty contest in the country, according to the pageant’s website.
—Yuliya Talmazan, NBC News, 19 Dec. 2023
The incident led her to enter a beauty contest in hopes of being able to leave Guyana.
—Tabitha Britt, Peoplemag, 22 Sep. 2023
In describing the recent market euphoria for A.I., the Morgan Stanley analysts pointed to British economist John Maynard Keynes’s beauty contest analogy.
—Bywill Daniel, Fortune, 10 Aug. 2023
The appetizers, for one, amount to a beauty contest.
—Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 21 July 2023
Mary Gaitskill, The New Yorker, 5 Feb. 2024
But while most past beauty contests or even dual systems like the old Texas Two-Step usually had a similar set of candidates on each ballot, Trump and Haley not going head-to-head on any ballot in Nevada has made today's beauty contest distinctly ornamental.
—Geoffrey Skelley, ABC News, 5 Feb. 2024
Highlights include an agility course, on-site adoptions and a beauty contest with several hundred exotic cats from across the country.
—The San Diego Union-Tribune Staff, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Jan. 2024
But believe it or not there’s a festival devoted to Damascus goats, complete with a beauty contest to select the most attractive of these bizarre animals from around the Persian Gulf.
—Discover Magazine, 8 Jan. 2024
The pageant is watched every year by millions of people in France and is the oldest-running beauty contest in the country, according to the pageant’s website.
—Yuliya Talmazan, NBC News, 19 Dec. 2023
The incident led her to enter a beauty contest in hopes of being able to leave Guyana.
—Tabitha Britt, Peoplemag, 22 Sep. 2023
In describing the recent market euphoria for A.I., the Morgan Stanley analysts pointed to British economist John Maynard Keynes’s beauty contest analogy.
—Bywill Daniel, Fortune, 10 Aug. 2023
The appetizers, for one, amount to a beauty contest.
—Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 21 July 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'beauty contest.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near beauty contest
Cite this Entry
“Beauty contest.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beauty%20contest. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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