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🪁 Unimportant event 🎪 Small show
sideshow

sideshow

17 4.2
A small show at a fair or circus beside the main event
  • noun
  • /ˈsaɪdˌʃoʊ/
: atracción
  • At the fair, there were several entertaining sideshows alongside the main attractions.
  • circus sideshow
  • carnival sideshow
  • sideshow attraction

That sort of became the pitch, the the circus sideshow, step right up type of thing that informed the rest of our video.

Examples

  • The fair's come to have so many sideshows, freaks, dancing...

    Friendly Persuasion (1956)

  • Elzora is a sideshow attraction.

    Eve's Bayou (1997)

  • And it's still the small shop circus sideshow that it's always been.

  • This sideshow is getting the army some of the best publicity it has had in years.

    Private Valentine: Blonde & Dangerous (2008)

  • Once upon a time, that was a sideshow attraction.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • I was still with the circus, spending many years in the sideshow circuit.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Mr. John Merrick... was an attraction at a sideshow.

    From Hell (2001)

  • Or is it a circus sideshow complete with freaks, magic, and rabble-rousing?

    Elmer Gantry (1960)

  • In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, sideshows within circuses had burlesque shows.

    Behind the Burly Q (2010)

  • Old sideshow posters adorn the crumbling facade, advertising past and future events.

    Fiction book (1999)

Synonyms

freak show
vssideshow
  • Offensive
56 6.8

An event that shows strange or shocking people and acts for entertainment

is a general small entertainment at events not specifically bizarre or shocking
turn
vssideshow
17 5.4

A short performance by one person in a show

is a small multi-act attraction at larger public events rather than one single act
variety show
vssideshow
12 3.4

A show made of different short acts like songs, dances, and jokes

is usually a small supplementary attraction at fairs not the main program
floorshow
vssideshow
  • Archaic
1 6.0

A live show of music or dance for people eating and drinking in clubs and restaurants

is instead a compact show at public events like fairs or circuses
divertissement
vssideshow
  • Specialized
1 9.9

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

is a small extra performance at a larger public event often outdoors

How Big

headliner
22 4.6
show
∞ 1.0
sideshow
17 4.2

Surface Forms

sideshow singular
sideshows plural

Morphology

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

This is a literal compound composed of 'side' + 'show' meaning a small show alongside a main event, so the meaning is directly predictable from its parts.

Etymology

Sideshow comes from side and show, and it was used for small performances next to the main circus or fair, a 'show at the side'. So it still means a small piece of entertainment that is part of a larger event.