Word of the Week: raree show (RÂR-ē shō)

Definition

(Noun) In extended use: an exhibition, show, or spectacle of any kind, especially one regarded as lurid, vulgar, or populist.

In Context

“There are times, on the contrary, when one gets the impression that her successor, King James, regarded the ceremonial antics of his scholars in Cambridge as providing a sort of raree show.”

Elisabeth Leedham-Green, A Concise History of the University of Cambridge, 1996.