Make Your Point > Archived Issues > PAGEANTRY
Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.
connect this word to others:
If the word pageantry were an animal, I think it'd be a peacock.
If it were a plant, it'd be a bird of paradise.
An article of clothing? This hat:
(Only $44, but the reviewers were displeased. Short feather. Missing grapes.)
You can play that simple game to review any vocabulary word you're studying: what animal, plant, or article of clothing would it be? It's one way to engage with a word's meaning and flavor, creating images and connections in your mind, rather than just rereading the definition.
If you like, give it a try with a word you haven't used in a while: maybe enamor, fustian, or kingcraft.
make your point with...
"PAGEANTRY"
(The word "pageant" might be related to "page," which would sort of make sense, because a pageant was originally a kind of play. We're not sure about that link, though.)
Today, a pageant, strictly speaking, is one of those showy, flashy shows or parades, especially the kind on a stage that involves lots of costumes. It might be a play or a contest, but either way, it's a show that's overdone and over-the-top, and it's all show--there's no serious substance or meaning to it.
Figuratively speaking, a pageant can be any empty, meaningless display.
Take "pageant," add the suffix "-ry," which in this case means "things like that, collectively," and you get "pageantry."
So, pageantry is anything that seems fancy, showy, and meaningless.
Pronunciation:
PADGE un tree
Part of speech:
Noun, usually the uncountable kind: "last night's pageantry," "it was nothing but pageantry."
Other forms:
pageant, pageants
How to use it:
This word often has a sharp, judgmental tone: "the debates are nothing but pageantry," "they don't want to make real changes; they just bask in the pageantry."
But the word can take on a positive tone, especially if you're talking about how beautiful something is: "the pageantry of the cherry blossoms," "we go to the ballet for the pageantry, not the storyline."
You might talk about something that's full of pageantry, nothing but pageantry, heavy or light on pageantry, etc.
Or, talk about the pageantry of something: "the pageantry of graduation ceremonies."
examples:
"To some, those mission bells conjure the romance of California’s Spanish past — a paternal Mission pastoral punctuated by elegant archways, vine-covered ruins and ornate pageantry."
— Julia Wick, The Los Angeles Times, 21 June 2019
"The pageantry of the British state visit was impressive, complete with an opulent dinner at Buckingham Palace."
— Jonathan Lemire and Kevin Freking, Associated Press, 7 June 2019
has this page helped you understand "pageantry"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "pageantry" without saying "pomp" or "ceremony."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "When (something in nature makes a grand display of itself), I can't look away from (its, their, or the) pageantry."
Example: "On breezy autumn days, when the red and gold leaves swirl in thick clouds, I can't look away from their pageantry."
before you review, play:
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
In August, we're playing the time-honored Game of Venery!
We're inventing terms for groups of things: terms that James Lipton, the author of An Exaltation of Larks, calls "shards of poetry and truth." Example terms of venery include lovely ones like "a conflagration of fireflies" and silly ones like "a myopia of umpires," "a rash of dermatologists," and "an unemployment of graduates."
In each issue this month, I'll offer two templates. Have fun filling them in and sharing your inventions with your family, being as lofty, silly, or bawdy as you like. In each subsequent issue, I'll list the actual terms that appear in Lipton's book.
From the previous issue:
1. A retinue of _____
2. A _____ of nurses
The terms listed in the book are "a retinue of ophthalmologists" and "a dearth of nurses."
Try these today:
1. A fortitude of _____
2. A _____ of night students
review this word:
1. Some near opposites of PAGEANTRY are
A. FIRE and FURY.
B. WIT and WISDOM.
C. SOUL and SUBSTANCE.
2. _____ the _____ pageantry, the principal opened with "Welcome," sped through the names from "Alvarez" to "Zamora," and ended with "Congratulations, you're dismissed."
A. True to .. terse
B. Embracing .. simple
C. In defiance of .. typical
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
If the word pageantry were an animal, I think it'd be a peacock.
(Only $44, but the reviewers were displeased. Short feather. Missing grapes.) (The word "pageant" might be related to "page," which would sort of make sense, because a pageant was originally a kind of play. We're not sure about that link, though.)
"To some, those mission bells conjure the romance of California’s Spanish past — a paternal Mission pastoral punctuated by elegant archways, vine-covered ruins and ornate pageantry."
Explain the meaning of "pageantry" without saying "pomp" or "ceremony."
Fill in the blanks: "When (something in nature makes a grand display of itself), I can't look away from (its, their, or the) pageantry."
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
1. Some near opposites of PAGEANTRY are
|