noun

le spectacle

show

C'est un événement où des personnes présentent quelque chose devant un public, comme du théâtre, de la musique ou de la danse.

Definition & meaning

Spectacle is a masculine French noun with two main meanings:

A performance or public entertainment: a show presented to an audience, such as a play, concert, dance performance, or circus act.
Example: “The concert was a wonderful show.”
A sight or scene: something that people can see, especially if it is striking, unusual, or impressive.
Example: “The sunset was a magnificent sight.”

In the plural, les spectacles usually means eyeglasses.

Grammar & Word origin

Spectacle is masculine: un spectacle. Its usual plural is des spectacles.

It comes from Latin spectaculum, meaning “a show” or “something to look at,” from spectare, “to watch.”

Synonyms & antonyms

For the meaning performance, synonyms include représentation , which often emphasizes a staged performance, and show , a common informal term for an entertainment event.

For the meaning sight or scene, vue [?](vocabuo://word/vue] can mean a view, while scène often refers to a scene or an episode that draws attention.

There is no single direct antonym for spectacle. The opposite depends on the sense: absence de représentation contrasts with a performance, while discrétion can contrast with a conspicuous or attention-grabbing sight.