raree show

UK/ˈɹɛːɹiʃəʊ/

noun

A portable puppet show or picture show as used for public entertainment; a peepshow.

First used 17th c.
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Meanings

nounraree show (plural raree shows)

plural raree shows

  1. A portable puppet show or picture show as used for public entertainment; a peepshow.First known use 17th c.
  2. A public spectacle, especially seen as lurid or vulgar.First known use 17th c.

    Leaning forward she would be, on the seat of the general's illuminated car, glazed in, a regular raree show!

    1925, Ford Madox Ford, No More Parades (Parade's End), Penguin, published 2012, page 335

Origin

Probably representing a foreign or dialectal pronunciation of rare + show.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

raree show. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/raree%20show

MLA

“raree show.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/raree%20show. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “raree show,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/raree%20show.

Source: raree show on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.