sideshow

noun

side·​show ˈsīd-ˌshō 

1

: a minor show offered in addition to a main exhibition (as of a circus)

2

: an incidental diversion or spectacle

Examples of sideshow in a Sentence

Their disagreement is just a political sideshow when compared to the real issues at hand.

Recent Examples on the Web

Here’s hoping the recent sideshow doesn’t derail the efforts. —Felipe Cardenas, The Athletic, 18 Feb. 2025

Pereira had been watching the sideshow that evening at the corner of 10th Avenue and East 12th Street when an Infiniti G37S struck another spectator, leading the man and another person to begin firing at the vehicle. —Shomik Mukherjee, The Mercury News, 13 Feb. 2025

The bureaucratic sideshows of life-size patriotic cut-outs propped up at the doors in office corridors stand as humanoid warnings. —Armond White, National Review, 22 Jan. 2025

Everything else about the Grammys became a sideshow. —Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 3 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1846, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for sideshow

• afterglow
• akimbo
• albino
• aliquot
• allegro
• amigo
• apropos
• audio
• bungalow
• calico
• calypso
• cameo

Kids Definition

sideshow

noun

side·​show -ˌshō 

: a small show off to the side offered in addition to a main show (as of a circus)