1
2
as in pageant
an elaborate, visually exciting show or event the media circus that took place outside the courthouse every day of the murder trial

Synonyms & Similar Words

3
as in stadium
a large usually roofless building for sporting events with tiers of seats for spectators the Roman circus is believed to have held 50,000 spectators in ancient times

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of circus The estate grounds are massive and there is so much to see, from circus memorabilia to a rose garden and bayside winter mansion. Miami Herald, 16 July 2025 There’s a great deal of variation across folk schools; students can learn filmmaking, circus arts, or even how to live like a Viking. Barry Levitt, Time, 25 July 2025 The survey spans the breadth of U.K. entertainment, with respondents working across theater (84%), live events and concerts (34%), opera (23%), dance (22%), film (16%), TV (14%), recorded audio (14%), video games (2%) and circus (4%), among other sectors. Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 24 July 2025 Whether hunted in the wild, confined in laboratories, imprisoned in zoos or circuses, caught in traps or caged, raised and killed for their fur, skin. Chicago Tribune, 4 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for circus
Recent Examples of Synonyms for circus
Noun
  • The madhouse of awards season and all its many, many controversies — not to mention an ongoing parade of natural and man-made disasters — has until now perhaps overshadowed some of the year’s lower-stakes joys.
    Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 6 Mar. 2025
  • But things move fast in the Goodison madhouse.
    Greg O'Keeffe, The Athletic, 9 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • Kaye began as a music supervisor on American Idol in 2009 and spent 16 years curating songs that were sung by contestants, while also shaping the sound of Lip Sync Battle and the Miss Universe pageant.
    Danielle Bacher, People.com, 31 July 2025
  • Another beauty queen will head from Miami to the Miss Universe pageant in Thailand.
    Sarah Moreno, Miami Herald, 22 July 2025
Noun
  • Long and Pumphrey will serve as Honor Warriors for the game, leading the Aztecs into the stadium and onto the field against the Bears.
    Kirk Kenney, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Aug. 2025
  • That stadium’s zip code is nearly all MetLife, with just 10,000 people living in it, according to postal service data.
    Brendan Coffey, Sportico.com, 12 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • And so a day that started in the relative oasis of a picturesque tennis court ends with the bedlam of a city gearing up for the mother of all parties.
    Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 1 June 2025
  • So many of us have spent these last few months running and thither from bad news to more bad news, from chaos to bedlam, from disbelief to shock.
    Donna Vickroy, Chicago Tribune, 19 June 2025
Noun
  • The exhibit features a wide variety of media, including pottery and wood sculpture, watercolor, acrylic and oil paintings.
    Philip Potempa, Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2025
  • Gwin’s father was a slaveowner and one of California’s first U.S. senators, according to the exhibit.
    Ethan Wolin August 6, Sacbee.com, 6 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • The coliseum concert marks The Format’s first full-band performance since 2007, although Sam Means and Nate Ruess did surprise fans at a 2020 viewing party for a Format concert film in downtown Phoenix with a full unplugged reunion concert.
    Ed Masley, AZCentral.com, 9 July 2025
  • The outdoor sets will bookend The Format’s headlining performance in the coliseum.
    Ed Masley, AZCentral.com, 9 July 2025
Noun
  • In the short-term, Fede Valverde is expected to be fit despite missing a pre-season exhibition game with a muscle strain.
    Sam Leveridge, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2025
  • Including the contest in Puerto Rico, the Heat will play six exhibition games this year.
    Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 12 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • The actual rich keep finding new places to stash themselves away—on superyachts, in underground bunkers, off the planet altogether—and yet spectacles of wealth are now accessible 24/7 through our devices.
    Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 15 Aug. 2025
  • And the nearly exclusive white crowds that gathered for the spectacle were by no means thin.
    Jody Mamone, Hartford Courant, 15 Aug. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Circus.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/circus. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.

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