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holy show. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
holy show, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
holy show in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
holy show you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
Compared by the English Dialect Dictionary to the phrase holy bizen, holy byzont; see bizen.[1]
Noun
holy show (plural holy shows)
- A shameful spectacle; a scene.
1827, , chapter 1, in The Half Sir (Tales of the Munster Festivals; 1), London: Saunders and Otley, →OCLC, page 229:[…] here am I now, in the flower o' my days, […] in this old box pitched up on top of a hill, and shaking to every blast o' wind like a straw upon the waters […] disgracen himself an' all belongen to him. There'll be a holy show med of us with the Wran-boys.
Usage notes
- Usually to make a holy show of something (or of oneself).
References
- ^ Joseph Wright, editor (1902), “HOLY, adj.”, in The English Dialect Dictionary: , volume III (H–L), London: Henry Frowde, , publisher to the English Dialect Society, ; New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, →OCLC, page 214, column 1: “(2) — bizen or by·zont, a show, spectacle, or conspicuous or ridiculous object […] (18) — show, see (2)”