noun
pageant
PAD-zhuhnt
noun
1
An elaborate public show or performance, often involving costumes and a procession, sometimes a beauty competition.
"The town holds a historical pageant every summer."
"She competed in a beauty pageant as a teenager."
How to Use Pageant
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA grand, showy public performance or competition, often with costumes and staged spectacle.
Common pairings
beauty pageant
historical pageant
Word Forms
pageanted past tense, pageants singular
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The town holds a historical _____ every summer.
Etymology
From Medieval Latin pagina, referring to a play performed as part of a cycle of religious mystery plays in the Middle Ages.