dare spettacolo

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Italian

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Etymology

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Literally, to give spectacle. Compare French se donner en spectacle and Portuguese dar espetáculo.

Verb

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dàre spettacolo (first-person singular present (with syntactic gemination after the verb) spettacolo, first-person singular past historic dièdi spettacolo or diédi spettacolo or détti spettacolo or (traditional) dètti spettacolo, past participle dàto spettacolo, first-person singular future darò spettacolo, first-person singular subjunctive dìa spettacolo, first-person singular imperfect subjunctive déssi spettacolo, second-person singular imperative dài spettacolo or dà' spettacolo, auxiliary avére)

  1. (intransitive) to try to demonstrate one's skills or bravura; to show off
    Synonyms: farsi notare, sfoggiare, fare sfoggio, pavoneggiarsi, grandeggiare
  2. (intransitive) to show off; to parade [with di]
    Synonyms: sfoggiare, esibire; see also Thesaurus:mettere in mostra
    dare spettacolo della sua muscolatura
    to show off his muscles
  3. (intransitive) to attract the attention of others by behaving embarrassingly or foolishly; to make a fool of oneself

Usage notes

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  • In the sense of "to make a fool of oneself," sometimes followed by di for emphasis.