Upstage
Definition, Meaning & Examples
Pronunciation /ʌpˈsteɪd͡ʒ/ · Part of speech noun
Quick meaning: Upstage is a noun meaning (theater) The part of a stage that is farthest from the audience or camera.
Meaning
(theater) The part of a stage that is farthest from the audience or camera.
More Meanings
- Toward or at the rear of a theatrical stage.
- Away from the audience or camera.
- At the rear of a stage.
- (figurative, obsolete) Haughty, aloof.
- (figurative, transitive) To draw attention away from others, especially on-stage.
- (transitive, theater) To force other actors to face away from the audience by staying upstage.
- (transitive, by extension) To treat snobbishly.
Example Sentences
The actor turned and walked upstage.
The minimalist play used no upstage scenery.
She only wore that dress to upstage everyone.
Almost one-third of patients were upstaged after re-exploration, three-quarters of whom actually had stage III disease.
Word Forms
- upstages
- upstaging
- upstaged
Synonyms for upstage
Depending on context, synonyms include airy, arrogant, chesty, authoritarian, biggity, big-headed.
Antonyms for upstage
Common opposites include downstage.
Related Words
Related dictionary entries include downstage, understage, postscenium, proscenium, back, interstage.
Related Dictionary Tools
Sources & Attribution
FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.