Meaning & use
beauty pageant
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Meaning
nouncountable
A competition in which contestants are judged on their appearance and often also on talent, poise and answers to questions, with one winner crowned.
Grammar: Plural is beauty pageants; usually used with in: compete in a beauty pageant.
Patterns
- compete in a beauty pageant
- win a beauty pageant
She won a regional beauty pageant at the age of eighteen.
The town holds a beauty pageant every summer during the fair.
Some countries have banned beauty pageants for young children.
Word forms
| plural | beauty pageants |
|---|
Common combinations
- enter a beauty pageant
- She entered a beauty pageant to win scholarship money.
- win a beauty pageant
- He coached a girl who won a beauty pageant.
- beauty pageant winner
- The beauty pageant winner visited a children's hospital.
- beauty pageant contestant
- Each beauty pageant contestant answered a question onstage.
- televised beauty pageant
- Millions watched the televised beauty pageant.
Synonyms and how they differ
- beauty contest
- Beauty contest is nearly identical, though it is more common in British English and can also be used figuratively for a popularity contest.
- pageant
- Pageant on its own is shorter but can also mean a costumed parade or historical play.
- talent show
- A talent show judges performances, not looks, so it is a different type of event.
Word family
Commonly confused: beauty pageant or fashion show?
beauty pageant vs fashion show
A fashion show presents clothes on models without choosing a winner, whereas a beauty pageant crowns one person.
Practice
After months of preparation, Dana finally walked onto the stage to compete in the ___.
Choose one answer.
A beauty pageant is a staged contest where contestants walk on stage and a winner is crowned. The other events do not involve stage competition.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “beauty pageant”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.