Dictionary

spectacle en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈspɛktəkl̩/
• (UK) audio

Etymology

From Middle English spectacle, from Middle French spectacle, from Latin spectāculum (“a show, spectacle”), from spectō (“to see, behold”), frequentative of speciō (“to see”). See species. Doublet of spectaculum.

Meanings

1. (countable) An exciting or extraordinary scene, exhibition, performance etc.
   • VVith ſcoffes and ſcornes, and contumelious taunts, / In open Market-place produc't they me, / To be a publique ſpectacle to all: / Here, ſayd they, is the Terror of the French, / The Scar-Crovv that affrights our Children ſo. 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene vi], page 100, column 1:
   • The horse race was a thrilling spectacle.
   • 22 March 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Hunger Gameshttp://www.avclub.com/articles/the-hunger-games,71293/ In movie terms, it suggests Paul Verhoeven in Robocop/Starship Troopers mode, an R-rated bloodbath where the grim spectacle of children murdering each other on television is bread-and-circuses for the age of reality TV, enforced by a totalitarian regime to keep the masses at bay.
   • But scarcely was it set upon the table when the whole was carried off and plundered by the people who came to see the spectacle of the entertainment 1876, Robert Southey, edited by John Wood Warter, Choice passages, Reaves and Turner, page 555:
2. (uncountable) Drama and excitement in a display, product, performance, exhibition, etc.
   • I enjoyed her presentation, but it needs more spectacle.
3. (countable) An embarrassing or unedifying scene or situation.
   • He made a spectacle out of himself.
4. (attributive, countable, form-of) Attributive form of spectacles.
   form of spectacles
   • Some very interesting relics of Adam and Eve were shown us, that were brought from America; such as a fine-tooth comb, made of thorns, a part of a pair of leather spectacle frames, without glasses, a boot jack made of ebony, and a set of pawpaws of props, with the backs filled with a hard substance, resembling lava. 1858 August 14, Peleg Parsley Bell, “Seeing the World. Letter No. 5. […] Still in London.”, in The Flag of Our Union, volume XIII, number 33, Boston, Mass.: M[aturin] M[urray] Ballou, page 260, column 2:
5. (countable) The brille of a snake.
6. (countable) A frame with different coloured lenses on a semaphore signal through which light from a lamp shines at night, often a part of the signal arm.

Forms

Deriveds

counterspectacle · spectaclemaker · spectacle case · spectacleless · make a public spectacle of oneself · spectacles, testicles, wallet and watch · spectacled · superspectacle · spectaclemaking · make a spectacle of oneself · minispectacle · bespectacled · spectaclelike

Relateds

species · speculate · spectacular

Synonyms

pageant · glasses (optical instrument) · eyeglasses (optical instrument) · specs (optical instrument) · show

Translations (77)

be спекта́кль (something exciting or extraordinary) · fi silmälasit (aid to intellectual sight) · hu látnivaló (something exciting or extraordinary) · sv spektakel (an embarrassing situation) · da skue (something exciting or extraordinary) · tg манзара (something exciting or extraordinary) · tg намоиш (something exciting or extraordinary) · az tamaşa (something exciting or extraordinary) · tr temaşa (something exciting or extraordinary) · pt espectáculo (an embarrassing situation) · fr spectacle (something exciting or extraordinary) · de Schauspiel (something exciting or extraordinary) · ja 光景 (something exciting or extraordinary) · eo spektaklo (something exciting or extraordinary) · pa ਤਮਾਸ਼ਾ (something exciting or extraordinary) · ca espectacle (something exciting or extraordinary) · ja スペクタクル (something exciting or extraordinary) · fa-ira تَماشا (something exciting or extraordinary) · bg спекта́къл (something exciting or extraordinary) · ar مَسْرَحِيَّة (something exciting or extraordinary) · pt espetáculo (something exciting or extraordinary) · de Spektakel (something exciting or extraordinary) · kk көрініс (something exciting or extraordinary) · es espectáculo (something exciting or extraordinary) · tr manzara (something exciting or extraordinary) · gl espectáculo (something exciting or extraordinary) · tg тамошо (something exciting or extraordinary) · grc θέαμα (something exciting or extraordinary) · hu látvány (something exciting or extraordinary) · uk спекта́кль (something exciting or extraordinary) · ug كۆرۈنۈش (something exciting or extraordinary) · ug تاماشا (something exciting or extraordinary) · cmn 奇觀 /奇观 (something exciting or extraordinary) · pt mostra (something exciting or extraordinary) · lv izstāde (something exciting or extraordinary) · it spettacolo (something exciting or extraordinary) · es papelón (an embarrassing situation) · sv syn (something exciting or extraordinary) · lv ekspozīcija (something exciting or extraordinary) · ja 壮観 (something exciting or extraordinary) · uz manzara (something exciting or extraordinary) · uz koʻrinish (something exciting or extraordinary) · fi peili (aid to intellectual sight) · uk видо́вище (something exciting or extraordinary) · ro spectacol (something exciting or extraordinary) · ru зре́лище (something exciting or extraordinary) · ru представле́ние (something exciting or extraordinary) · pt show (something exciting or extraordinary) · sv spektakel (something exciting or extraordinary) · uz tomosha (something exciting or extraordinary) · ko 스펙터클 (something exciting or extraordinary) · fa-ira نَمایِش (something exciting or extraordinary) · hu látványosság (something exciting or extraordinary) · nb skue (something exciting or extraordinary) · uk видо́висько (something exciting or extraordinary) · sk podívaná (something exciting or extraordinary) · tk tomaşa (something exciting or extraordinary) · pl widowisko (something exciting or extraordinary) · fi näytelmä (something exciting or extraordinary) · es espectáculo (an embarrassing situation) · nl spektakel (something exciting or extraordinary) · pl spektakl (something exciting or extraordinary) · el θέαμα (something exciting or extraordinary) · ar مَشْهَد (something exciting or extraordinary) · ba тамаша (something exciting or extraordinary) · bho तमासा (something exciting or extraordinary) · ko 광경 (something exciting or extraordinary) · la spectāculum (something exciting or extraordinary) · cs podívaná (something exciting or extraordinary) · fa-ira مَنْظَرِه (something exciting or extraordinary) · be відо́вішча (something exciting or extraordinary) · bg зре́лище (something exciting or extraordinary) · fi näky (something exciting or extraordinary) · ky көрүнүш (something exciting or extraordinary) · fi näytös (an embarrassing situation) · fi spektaakkeli (something exciting or extraordinary) · ru спекта́кль (something exciting or extraordinary)