Spectacles are glasses. The word sounds formal or old-fashioned; in everyday speech people say glasses. A show at the theatre is a play or a performance. In the singular, a spectacle is an impressive sight or show: The fireworks over the bay were an amazing spectacle.
spectacles: will you get the meaning right?
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a pair of + spectacles/glasses; wear / put on + spectacles; a spectacle (= an impressive show); make a spectacle of yourself; see + a play / a performance (theatre)
- My grandfather can't read the menu without his spectacles.
- She took off her spectacles, cleaned them and looked at the letter again.
What changed
First versionYesterday we went to the theatre and saw a great spectacle about Chekhov's life.
RevisionYesterday we went to the theatre and saw a great play about Chekhov's life.
In some languages, the word for a theatre show looks like spectacle, but a staged play in English is a play, and one particular showing is a performance. A spectacle is any impressive sight, so a great spectacle about Chekhov's life sounds like a light show rather than a play.
Make a spectacle of yourself means to behave in public in a way that makes you look ridiculous, to put on a show for everyone: Stop shouting, you're making a spectacle of yourself. Here the word finally gets its theatrical sense: a scene played out in front of an audience.
Your turn
Our school drama club is putting on a ___ by Shakespeare at the end of term.
Show the answer
play — The school drama club is staging a play by Shakespeare, so the word is play. A spectacle is any impressive sight, and native speakers don't say a spectacle by Shakespeare.
Describe someone who wears glasses. Say who it is and when they put them on.
My grandmother keeps her reading spectacles on a chain and puts them on whenever she does the crossword.
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