masquerade , n :
An assembly or party of people wearing (usually elaborate or fanciful) masks and costumes, and amusing themselves with dancing, conversation, or other diversions. The act of wearing a mask or dressing up in a costume for, or as if for, a masquerade ball. (figurative) An act of living under false pretenses; a concealment of something by a false or unreal show; a disguise, a pretence; also, a pretentious display. (figurative) An assembly of varied, often fanciful, things. (fandom slang) A cosplay event at which costumed attendees perform skits. (obsolete) A dramatic performance by actors in masks; a mask or masque. (obsolete, rare) A Spanish entertainment or military exercise in which squadrons of horses charge at each other, the riders fighting with bucklers and canes. masquerade v (intransitive) To take part in a masquerade; to assemble in masks and costumes; (loosely) to wear a disguise. (intransitive, figurative) To pass off as a different person or a person with qualities that one does not possess; also, to make a pretentious show of being what one is not. (transitive, rare) To conceal (something) with, or as if with, a mask; to disguise. “Masquerade” is a song in Act II of the musical The Phantom of the Opera, which premiered on this day in London in 1986.