beauty contest

English

Noun

beauty contest (plural beauty contests)

1. A competition in which participants compete for a determination that one is the most physically attractive.

   Synonym: beauty pageant

   • 2019 December 4, Pip Dunn, “Class 70s: a decade of disappointment?”, in Rail, page 65:

     The locomotives were labelled 'ugly', 'unsightly' and 'industrial', as their cab fronts were a mass of slats, grooves and blocks (despite the fact that, of course, locomotives are for work - it's not a beauty contest).

2. (business) A tender in which bidders are ranked according to some (known or secret) criteria.

Derived terms

• Keynesian beauty contest

Translations

beauty pageant — see beauty pageant

References

• (business tender): Auctions and Beauty Contests: A Policy Perspective

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English beauty contest.

Noun

beauty contest m (invariable)

1. beauty contest