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Glite Dictionary
🪁 Unimportant event 🎪 Small show
sideshow

sideshow

26 5.5
A small event that distracts from more important matters
  • noun
  • /ˈsaɪdˌʃoʊ/
translation icon : espectáculo secundario
  • The protest was seen as a sideshow compared to the important legislative changes being discussed.

I can do a tour where we're not the sideshow to the rock show.

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Examples

  • We're here for the summit, not the sideshow.

    Vantage Point (2008)

  • So can I ask one quick, quick question because we have this this sideshow going on called Davos.

  • I can do a tour where we're not the sideshow to the rock show.

    Rich Roll

  • What do they think we're some kind of sideshow or something?

    Dr. Gift (2023)

  • We were a walking sideshow.

    A Simple Favor (2018)

  • What are we, a sideshow?!

    North to Alaska (1960)

  • So tell me, what's the sideshow all about?

    Crocodile Dundee (1986)

  • But right now it's just a sideshow intended to fool the clueless.

    Blog text (26)

  • The debates will be a nice sideshow but will not impact Obama's sure win.

    Blog text (13)

  • When all is said and done, Ferguson's essay is just a sideshow, a distraction from the main event.

    Blog text (30)

Synonyms

divertissement
vssideshow
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A short, light performance that entertains people during a larger show

is an incidental activity seen as less important than the main event
curtain raiser
vssideshow
1 5.6

A short event or performance that comes before the main show

is incidental rather than serving to introduce or precede the main event

Antonyms

main event
37 3.0

The most important event in a show or public gathering

How Important

main event
37 3.0
attraction
141 2.0
sideshow
26 5.5
minor detail
6 3.2

Surface Forms

sideshow singular
sideshows plural

Morphology

sideshow = side + show (semi-transparent) = side + show

The figurative sense 'incidental or of little importance' is a metaphorical extension from the literal 'small show at the side', so the relation is not fully predictable for all learners.

Etymology

Sideshow is made of side and show, which literally means a 'show at the side' of something bigger. So it now often means a small or unimportant event that takes attention away from the main issue.