upstage
adverb
up·stage
| \ ˈəp-ˈstāj
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Definition of upstage
(Entry 1 of 4)
1
: toward or at the rear of a theatrical stage
2
: away from a motion-picture or television camera
upstage
adjectiveDefinition of upstage (Entry 2 of 4)
upstage
verb
up·stage
| \ ˌəp-ˈstāj
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upstaged;
upstaging;
upstages
Definition of upstage (Entry 3 of 4)
1
: to draw attention away from
upstaging the competition
2
: to force (an actor) to face away from the audience by staying upstage
3
: to treat snobbishly
upstage
noun
up·stage
| \ ˈəp-ˌstāj
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Definition of upstage (Entry 4 of 4)
: the part of a stage that is farthest from the audience or camera
Examples of upstage in a Sentence
Verb
We don't want the flower girl upstaging the bride. My apple pie was upstaged by her chocolate cake.Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
An original page from a 1974 edition of The Pittsburgh Press, an afternoon paper published from 1884 to 1992, is taped to the backside of the upstage door. — Erik Piepenburg, New York Times, "Inside the ‘Jitney’ Set: Picturing Pittsburgh Onstage," 9 Feb. 2017Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Lionel Richie is the sort of guy with enough personality, charisma and talent that not even an exploding sky above can upstage him. — Ross Raihala, Twin Cities, "Not even a premature fireworks display can stop Lionel Richie from lighting up the Grandstand," 30 Aug. 2019 But the Beavers’ offense was upstaged by Spencer Sanders and the Oklahoma State offense, which put up 555 yards on the way to a 52-36 thumping of Oregon State in the season opener for both teams. — oregonlive, "Cowboys lasso Oregon State: Describe Beavers’ season-opening loss to Oklahoma State in 5 words or less," 30 Aug. 2019 Caesar famously marched at the head of the king’s funeral procession, irritating the king’s nephew Kaiser Wilhelm II, who felt that the dog upstaged both him and the corpse. — Brian T. Allen, National Review, "Dog Days of Summer? Visit the New Museum of the Dog," 24 Aug. 2019 The fried bacon was upstaged and mushed up by the fried egg topping that exploded like a water balloon at first bite, masking everything with an overwhelming yolk taste. — Chuck Blount, ExpressNews.com, "52 Weeks of Burgers: Tycoon Flats," 23 Aug. 2019 But there is no shortage of talented youngsters who upstage them anytime. — Steve Chapman, chicagotribune.com, "Column: Bored to death with baseball? Tennis has all the real action.," 21 Aug. 2019 With Swanilda, the diagonal is a retreat (downstage right to upstage left); its charm lies in how very little her upper body does and in how that little makes magic. — Alastair Macaulay, New York Times, "New York City Ballet Is in Limbo, but in Bloom," 31 May 2018 Kennedy needed something to regain his stature on the world stage, and upstage Khrushchev. — Francis French, Smithsonian, "Imagining a World Where Soviets and Americans Joined Hands on the Moon," 20 July 2019 But the seamlessness, efficiency, and power experienced by users don’t necessarily translate to positive social experiences; the short-term satisfactions offered by software can upstage its longer-term implications. — Anna Wiener, The New Yorker, "What the Superhuman Controversy Reveals About the Shifting Ethics of Software," 17 July 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Additionally, Jennifer Tipton’s lighting inks the background in warmest black and subsequently bathes the dancers and their upstage dancing in a translucent bluish hue. — Robert Greskovic, WSJ, "‘Minimalism and Me’ Review: Twyla Tharp Tells Her Story," 19 Nov. 2018 But the most viscerally intense moment arrives with a very recent addition to the roster of characters, making a cameo in a parade of historically significant leaders, each one’s name projected huge on the upstage screen. — Laura Collins-hughes, New York Times, "Review: A Salon With Strangers in a Freewheeling ‘War and Peace’," 30 Mar. 2018 That set is dominated by an upstage wall of painted glass with revolving panels, lighted by Jason Fassl in lurid and shifting colors suggesting a phantasmagorical Turner seascape. — Mike Fischer, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Door County theaters add stories and sparkle to summer nights," 11 July 2018 With a floor of honey brown and an upstage wall like a minimalist Kandinsky, the stage is bare at the start and filled piece by piece with chairs and long wooden tables: for reading at, for dancing on, for dying at. — Laura Collins-hughes, New York Times, "Review: Pulled Apart by ‘Love and Intrigue’," 8 June 2018 The orchestra of seven musicians lurks upstage, just as music often lurks in memory; the lighting by Thom Weaver is happily subtle. — Toby Zinman, Philly.com, "'Fun Home' at the Arden: Quiet brilliance, lovely and profound," 24 May 2018 The set has also been placed far upstage, suggesting Gunner’s receding tide of sanity. — Mike Fischer, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Man with dementia faces the endgame in 'Outgoing Tide'," 25 Feb. 2018 The references to illumination are of the moon, quite literally, with a round, orangey orb rising on the upstage scrim throughout the work's 25 minutes. — Lauren Warnecke, chicagotribune.com, "In rare performance, choreographer Doug Varone takes to stage along with his dancers at Columbia," 9 Feb. 2018 Media: Hartford Curant Class of 2018 students went upstage in front of the supporting crowd and signed their name on a white poster with their school logo. — Kaila Contreras, Houston Chronicle, "Signing day not just for athletes for Summer Creek High School seniors," 25 Apr. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'upstage.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for upstage
upstage
adverb
English Language Learners Definition of upstage
(Entry 1 of 2)
: toward the back part of a stage
upstage
verb
English Language Learners Definition of upstage (Entry 2 of 2)
: to take attention away from (someone or something else, such as another performer)
See the full definition for upstage in the English Language Learners Dictionary