The meaning of PAGEANT is a mere show : pretense. How to use pageant in a sentence.

Pageant, a large-scale, spectacular theatrical production or procession. In its earlier meanings the term denoted specifically a car or float designed for the presentation of religious plays or cycles.

PAGEANT definition: 1. especially in the past, a competition in which young women and girls are judged on their beauty…. Learn more.

A pageant is a colourful public procession, show, or ceremony. Pageants are usually held out of doors and often celebrate events or people from history.

Pageant titles are often subdivided into Miss, Mrs. or Ms., and Teen, to clearly identify the difference between pageant divisions. The rankings of the contestants are referred to as …

Definition of pageant noun in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.

A usually pompous or ostentatious display or sequence: "[She] looks on at the pageant of make-believe affections: mannered smiles, overblown handshakes" (Michael Lowenthal).

There are 13 meanings listed in OED's entry for the word pageant, four of which are labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

PAGEANT definition: an elaborate public spectacle illustrative of the history of a place, institution, or the like, often given in dramatic form or as a procession of colorful floats.

The modern beauty pageant began in Spa, Belgium, with the 1888 Inter-City Beauty Contest, where Bertha Soucaret became the first winner of a formal competition judged by photographs …