masque means A dramatic performance, often performed at court as a royal entertainment, consisting of dancing, dialogue, pantomime and song. It carries an Arena rating of 1666, earned across 26 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, masque ranks #966 of 13,217 for Most Beautiful Words, #1,009 of 13,217 for Most Elegant Words, #1,278 of 13,217 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #1,535 of 13,217 for Most Exacting Words.
masque is pronounced /mæsk/.
Why “masque” is a great word
MASQUE — [Noun] A form of dramatic court entertainment, popular in the 16th and 17th centuries, combining verse, dance, music, and elaborate costumes. From French 'masque', from Italian 'maschera', from Medieval Latin 'masca' ("mask, specter"), of uncertain origin; first attested in English in the early 16th century. Unlike a "mask" (a simple face-covering for concealment) or a "masquerade" (a ball of anonymous revelry), a masque is spectacle made sovereign, a scripted illusion for a privileged audience. It is the rustle of silk against marble, the allegorical figure descending on a creaking mechanical cloud, and the silent, gilded face of a monarch watching gods perform their flattery—a brief, ordered universe where art holds entropy at bay, just before the common night returns.
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from French masque. Doublet of mask and mesh.
noun
- A dramatic performance, often performed at court as a royal entertainment, consisting of dancing, dialogue, pantomime and song.“"I think," said Anne to Madame de Mercœur, "we must obtain your protégée's services for our intended masque; however, I shall leave that to you young people to settle," turning to Louis as she spoke.”
- Words and music written for a masque.“Over six sections – a prologue, a life-story, a dream-quest, a dirge, a masque and an epilogue – they meditate on their lives, their hopes, their losses, and on the human condition.”
- A masquerade.“The game of pretence is enhanced by dressing-up, and it is natural for a child to copy some grown-up hero. The game was also played by all those people who have attended masques and fancy-dress parties and by Marie-Antoinette when she played at being a milkmaid, it is only the fashion which had altered.”
- A facial mask.“mud masque; clay masque”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- antimasque 86% match — A comic or grotesque dance presented before or between the acts of a masque. vs masque →
- ridotto 82% match — A public ball, typically a masquerade, popular in the 18th century. vs masque →
- mummery 82% match — Mumming; disguising oneself to perform as a mummer, or to take part in some other festivities or performance. vs masque →
- pavane 82% match — A musical style characteristic of the 16th and 17th centuries. vs masque →
- mummer 82% match — A person who dons a disguising costume, as for a parade or a festival. vs masque →
- pantomime 81% match — A Classical comic actor, especially one who works mainly through gesture and mime. vs masque →
- harlequinade 81% match — A pantomime-like comedy featuring the harlequin or clown. vs masque →
- phantasmagoria 81% match — A popular 18th- and 19th-century form of theater entertainment whereby ghostly apparitions are formed. vs masque →