pageant

noun pag·eant \ ˈpa-jənt \

Updated on: 22 May 2018

Definition of pageant

1 a : a mere show : pretense

b : an ostentatious display

2 : show, exhibition; especially : an elaborate colorful exhibition or spectacle often with music that consists of a series of tableaux, of a loosely unified drama, or of a procession usually with floats

3 : pageantry 1

See pageant defined for English-language learners

See pageant defined for kids

Examples of pageant in a Sentence

They disagreed with the pageant judges.
Their church puts on an annual Christmas pageant.

Recent Examples of pageant from the Web

Visitors to the festival enjoyed festival food trucks and booths, midway rides, a cook-off and live entertainment and a pageant concluding with the crowning of Miss Sylvan Beach on the main stage.

— kirk sides, Houston Chronicle, "Photo gallery: Slvan Beach visitors enjoy festival and parade," 28 Apr. 2018
The question of whether Trump spent a night at the Ritz-Carlton in Moscow while in town for the 2013 Miss Universe pageant is central to the most salacious allegation in the Steele dossier.

— adam k. raymond, Daily Intelligencer, "Trump’s Fox & Friends Interview Is Already Creating Legal Problems," 26 Apr. 2018
Estefan, who started as a folk singer in Northeast Ohio in the 1970s and has competed in pageants and competitions for years, won the Miss Gay Classic USA.

— megan becka, cleveland.com, "Akron Civic Theatre to host Drag Battle and Show in support of Akron Pride Festival," 18 Apr. 2018
The net result is a mildly likable movie that, in comedy terms, won't win any pageants.

— brian lowry, CNN, "Amy Schumer takes on self-esteem issues in 'I Feel Pretty'," 18 Apr. 2018
Downs Gunn, who funded part of her education through more than $100,000 IN scholarships earned at pageants, was a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship in 2002.

— leada gore, AL.com, "Who is Deidre Downs Gunn? Former Miss Alabama, Miss America, weds girlfriend," 15 Apr. 2018
Drawing a crowd of about 3,000 attendees and a concourse display of roughly 350 motorcycles, the one-day moto-centric gathering is part beauty pageant, part manufacturer billboard and part social hub, becoming a must-make calendar date for some.

— charles fleming, latimes.com, "Quail Motorcycle Gathering, the 'Pebble Beach of motorcycles,' turns 10," 3 May 2018
Get our daily newsletter Scarcely had a storm of social-media ridicule died down before Mr Deb stirred it again with some impromptu remarks on beauty pageants.

— The Economist, "Some tribunes of the Indian people love to talk tosh," 3 May 2018
Most crucial is the order you layer products in: powder on powder equals pageant-y, while powder on top of cream is surprisingly glowy.

— rachel nussbaum, Glamour, "I Asked Beyoncé's Makeup Artist to Give Me Her 'Teflon Face'," 3 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'pageant.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of pageant

Middle English pagyn, padgeant, literally, scene of a play, from Anglo-French pagine, pagent, from Medieval Latin pagina, perhaps from Latin, page

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year