pageant

/ˈpædʒənt/

/ˈpædʒɪnt/

Other forms: pageants

A pageant is an elaborate show or parade that usually depicts a historical or religious event, although these days more people know them as Miss America-type beauty contests.

Pageants aren't just for beauty queens — any richly decorated spectacle or ceremony could be considered a pageant. Around Christmas time, many Christian churches put on pageants that reenact the birth of Jesus. The Carnival parades in Brazil represent another type of pageant. And if your school organized a show where students had to act out famous moments in history? That would be a pageant, too.

Definitions of pageant

1. noun

   an elaborate representation of scenes from history, etc.; usually involves a parade with rich costumes
   synonyms: pageantry

   type of:

   representation

   an activity that stands as an equivalent of something or results in an equivalent
2. noun

   a rich and spectacular ceremony
   synonyms: pageantry

   type of:

   ceremonial, ceremonial occasion, ceremony, observance

   a formal event performed on a special occasion
3. noun

   a contest in which competitors’ beauty is judged
   type of:

   competition, contest

   an occasion on which a winner is selected from among two or more contestants