spectacular, a. and n.
(spɛkˈtækjʊlə(r))
[f. L. spectacul-um spectacle n.1]
1. a. Of the nature of a spectacle or show; striking or imposing as a display. Also fig.
| 1682 G. Hickes Serm. bef. Ld. Mayor 30 Jan. 4 The Spectacular sports were concluded. 1865 Daily Tel. 20 Nov. 5/1 The true interests of the drama may in the end be advanced by its separation from merely spectacular entertainments. 1876 Black Madcap Violet xliv. 382 That was all very well as a spectacular exhibition. 1884 Nonconf. & Indep. 13 Nov. 1094/1 The Lord Mayor's Show was a more ambitious and spectacular pageant than ever. 1934 J. B. Priestley Eng. Journey ix. 316 Both my companions knew about this yard, which had been a spectacular failure in which over a million of money had been lost. |
b. absol. That which appeals to the eye.
| 1876 J. Parker Paracl. i. xvi. 257 The carnal mind loves the spectacular, the marvellous. 1896 J. M. Manly Introd. Macbeth p. xxiii, The list of plays and masques indicates a growing tendency to the spectacular during the 2nd decade of the 17th century. |
2. Pertaining to, characteristic of, spectacles or shows.
| 1864 Daily Tel. 16 Aug., They are fond of spectacular magnificence. 1876 Mellor Priesthood vi. 293 It is easy..to surround any ceremony..with a spectacular splendour which captivates the imagination. 1883 E. C. Rollins New Eng. Bygones 240 That climate..spread over the landscape a great spectacular glory. |
3. Addicted to, fond of, spectacles.
| 1894 Daily Tel. 2 July 7/2 All the glory of uniform and the glow of colour beloved by the most spectacular nation in the world. |
4. As n. A spectacular display; also spec. a radio or television programme, entertainment, etc., produced on a lavish or spectacular scale.
| 1890 Pall Mall G. 8 Apr. 7/2 An amphitheatre..in which spectaculars on a grand scale might be produced before a half-million spectators. 1953 N.Y. Times 3 Jan. 8/5 Thirteen ‘spectaculars’ will be affected, including the giant British Overseas Airways sign, Cunard and Canadian Pacific Lines displays and advertisements for gin, wine, radio and television. 1954 Ibid. 28 Mar. x13/1 Its [sc. NBC's] big feature..will be a series of costly and lavish ninety⁓minute ‘spectaculars’—opera, drama, musical comedy, circuses, ice shows, etc. 1958 Times 28 Mar. 3/4 A television ‘spectacular’ transmitted by the National Broad⁓casting Company. 1966 Punch 8 June 858/2 The Disorderly Knights, a historical novel of the sixteenth century by Dorothy Dunnett, is a five hundred page spectacular: enormous in every possible way. 1969 Listener 20 Feb. 249/3 Radio drama may miss its former purse-power, and the multi-studio ‘spectacular’ is a fashion of the past. 1971 Scope (S. Afr.) 19 Mar. 4/2 It was a golfing spectacular the old pros will talk about for years. 1978 S. Brill Teamsters x. 391 The ceremony and dinner party were followed by an entertainment spectacular put on by..Barbara McNair, Billy Daniels, Ed McMahon and Frank Sinatra. |
Hence specˌtacuˈlarity, spectacular quality or character.
| 1883 Howells Woman's Reason xii, The bare spectacularity of the keeping..must all be eloquent of a boarding-house. 1891 ― Imperative Duty 6 A certain civic grandiosity, a sort of lion-and-unicorn spectacularity. |