Etymology From Latin spectaculum (“a sight, show”) + -ar.
1
Amazing or worthy of special notice.
The parachutists were spectacular.
A branch of rail transport that seems to been rather neglected by historians is that concerned with cliff railways, of which a fair number exist in Great Britain. This is probably because these lines are overshadowed by the more spectacular funicular railways in Switzerland and other mountainous regions; perhaps, too, because of the general habit of referring to them as "cliff lifts," which tends to associate them with the vertical indoor type.1951 August, P. W. Gentry, “Cliff Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 514:
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Between 8 and 9 p.m., the recorder at a meteorological station at Harrow, Middlesex, picked up 1,470 lightning flashes within a radius of 10 to 15 miles, and observers at the station described the storm as "probably one of the most spectacular of the century."1958 November 23, “Storm Damage in the Home Counties”, in Railway Magazine, page 746:
2
Dated Related to, or having the character of, a spectacle or entertainment.
the merely spectacular
The like clamour, and outcry, the Rabble of the unbelieving Jews and Gentiles made againſt Polycarp Biſhop of Smyrna, at the time of his Martyrdom. crying out againſt him to the Governour, that he ſhould caſt him to the Lyons, and when he anſwered them he could not, becauſe the Spectacular ſports were concluded, then they cry’d out, Burn him, burn him, juſt as the Jews cryed out againſt Chriſt to Pilate, Crucify him, crucify him.1681, George Hickes, A Sermon Preached before the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Citizens of London:
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Those apparently insignificant events which really make history are seldom featured in the press; the merely spectacular too frequently crowds the essential out of the public sheets.1910 August 21, Andre Tridon, “Europe Flirts with Argentina to Win Her Rich Trade”, in The New York Times:
One of the more striking facets of these accounts of the Hell's Angels is the extent to which the defiant homosexual behavior they describe—especially the spectacular same-sex kissing—so closely mirrors the behavior of young women in the early twenty-first century.2015, Jane Ward, Not Gay, New York University Press, →ISBN, page 70:
Etymology From Latin spectaculum (“a sight, show”) + -ar.
1
A spectacular display.
Though business has more or less held up so far, a series of drug-related spectaculars sparked an exodus of the city's upper class this summer.16 October 2010, “Under the volcano”, in The Economist:
Here are a few examples of "spectaculars," or three-dimensional pieces, including those which have won awards […]1966, Hanley Norins, The Compleat Copywriter: