What does pageant mean?
Word: Pageant
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Pageant means a colourful outdoor show in which people in costume act out scenes from history.
How do you spell pageant?
Syllables: pag - eant
Tricky part: Two vowels sit side by side before the final nt, yet you hardly hear either of them. Most slips happen here, when one vowel is left out or the wrong one is written.
Watch out for: pagent, pagant, pageent
Memory tip: Picture the crowd at the end of the show: Everyone Applauds. E then A are the two quiet vowels that stand before the n.
Pageant in a sentence
Example 1: Class 6 is preparing a pageant on the history of Mysore for Founders' Day.
Example 2: Our town holds a pageant every winter, with people dressed as its old kings and queens.
Example 3: My little brother played a palace guard in the school pageant.
Fun Fact
In the Middle Ages the word pageant could mean the stage itself: a platform on wheels, pulled through the streets so that actors could perform on it in different places.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell Probe
Find the misspelt word in the sentence and choose its meaning:
Dressed in bright costumes, the pupils staged a padgeant in the park to mark the hundredth birthday of their town.
a) a grand public performance that brings the past to life
b) an area of grass and trees that is open to everyone
c) a child who is learning at a school
d) the clothes worn by an actor in a play or film
Show answer
a) a grand public performance that brings the past to life. Costumes, pupils and park are all spelt correctly; the show has no d in it.
Sound Check
In which word is 'g' pronounced differently?
a) gesture
b) ginger
c) pageant
d) geese
Show answer
d) geese. Geese opens with the hard sound of go; the other words use the soft 'j' sound.
Jumble Tumble
Which option has letters that you can rearrange to form the name of a kind of outdoor show?
a) vinlaroc
b) tengapa
c) cordent
d) aerpod
Show answer
b) tengapa. Only these seven letters make a real word for a show; each of the others is one letter away from a word.
Word Champ
Read the three statements and choose the correct option:
1. A pageant is a public show that can tell the story of a town's past. 2. A rehersal is a practice held before a public show. 3. A stage is the raised floor on which actors perform.
a) only 1 and 3 are correct
b) all three are correct
c) only 1 is correct
d) only 2 and 3 are correct
Show answer
a) only 1 and 3 are correct. Statement 2 hides a misspelling: the word needs an a after its first e, as in hear.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these would make the best subject for a town pageant?
a) the founding of the town long ago
b) the new rules for parking in town
c) the price of vegetables in the market
d) the timetable of the local buses
Show answer
a) the founding of the town long ago
2. The opening ceremony of the Asian Games was praised for its pageantry. What does this suggest about the ceremony?
a) it was plain and very short
b) it was held behind closed doors
c) it was cheap and quickly arranged
d) it was splendid to watch
Show answer
d) it was splendid to watch
