DictionarycircumstanceCeremonial display
noun

circumstance

Formal ceremony surrounding an event.

The procession advances with pomp and circumstance.

Etymology

The pieces picture what stands around an event. In this sense, those surrounding features are its ceremonial display, as in the traditional phrase “pomp and circumstance.”

More examples

  • They dispensed with ceremonial circumstance.
  • The event lacked its usual circumstance.
  • She enjoyed the circumstance of the occasion.

Forms

circumstance

Similar words

pomp
Emphasizes showy formal display.
ceremony
The organized formal observance itself.