variants
or stagey
1
as in theatrical
given to or marked by attention-getting behavior suggestive of stage acting
a motivational speaker whose stagy presentations motivate some listeners to head for the nearest exit
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in dramatic
having the general quality or effect of a stage performance
the president's and the prime minister's public display of mutual admiration was a little too stagy to be convincing
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of stagy
And even though there are stretches of stagey-sounding expository dialogue, the story manages to wheel along at a clip.
—
Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 12 Sep. 2025
The Fence suffers from dialogue overload and a somewhat stagy mise-en-scène, although those elements occasionally yield strong sequences fraught with unsettledness, if not outright hostility, when the drama finally boils over.
—Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 4 Sep. 2025
Some reservations: Song plays out the scenes between Lucy and Harry, and between Lucy and John, as two-way dialogues that are often stagy and too on-the-nose.
—Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor, 12 June 2025
His Cabinet gathered in the Rose Garden alongside supporters wearing hard hats and reflective vests—a stagy reference to all the manufacturing jobs that would presumably be flooding back to U.S. soil.
—Antonia Hitchens, New Yorker, 21 Apr. 2025
Ferrell just isn’t right for this part: The role is too stagy, too wordy for him, and his style of comedy is just too modern and deconstructionist to handle the Borscht Belt punning of Mel Brooks.
—Tim Grierson, Vulture, 4 Feb. 2025
Here was elegance without exaggeration, tension and beauty without stagy excess.
—James Shapiro, The New York Review of Books, 3 Jan. 2025
This framing device, which has the clunky air of a middlebrow play, provides a convenient if stagy way of breaking down his biography into manageable parts.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 9 Aug. 2024
Advertisement Gwen Grastorf’s embodiment of the scheming goody-goody Arsinoë is a tad stagy, but the character is still a fine foil for the quick-witted Célimène.
—Celia Wren, Washington Post, 4 May 2023
Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 12 Sep. 2025
The Fence suffers from dialogue overload and a somewhat stagy mise-en-scène, although those elements occasionally yield strong sequences fraught with unsettledness, if not outright hostility, when the drama finally boils over.
—Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 4 Sep. 2025
Some reservations: Song plays out the scenes between Lucy and Harry, and between Lucy and John, as two-way dialogues that are often stagy and too on-the-nose.
—Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor, 12 June 2025
His Cabinet gathered in the Rose Garden alongside supporters wearing hard hats and reflective vests—a stagy reference to all the manufacturing jobs that would presumably be flooding back to U.S. soil.
—Antonia Hitchens, New Yorker, 21 Apr. 2025
Ferrell just isn’t right for this part: The role is too stagy, too wordy for him, and his style of comedy is just too modern and deconstructionist to handle the Borscht Belt punning of Mel Brooks.
—Tim Grierson, Vulture, 4 Feb. 2025
Here was elegance without exaggeration, tension and beauty without stagy excess.
—James Shapiro, The New York Review of Books, 3 Jan. 2025
This framing device, which has the clunky air of a middlebrow play, provides a convenient if stagy way of breaking down his biography into manageable parts.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 9 Aug. 2024
Advertisement Gwen Grastorf’s embodiment of the scheming goody-goody Arsinoë is a tad stagy, but the character is still a fine foil for the quick-witted Célimène.
—Celia Wren, Washington Post, 4 May 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stagy
Adjective
-
The film was made available to buy and rent on digital platforms, like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Fandango at Home, on July 15, a month after its theatrical release.—
Amaris Encinas,
USA Today,
11 Sep. 2025
-
John Galliano brings an extraordinary sensitivity to storytelling, blending the past and present with such technical precision that each piece feels theatrical in itself.—
WWD Staff,
Footwear News,
10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The most dramatic of these are the annual benchmark revisions, which align the monthly survey data with the more comprehensive Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), a near-complete count of jobs derived from unemployment insurance tax records.—
Jeff Gapusan,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
-
Advertisement But when Episode 10 ended with Conrad boarding a plane to Paris in pursuit of Belly, fans began gearing up for a dramatic—and possibly heartbreaking—finale.—
Megan McCluskey,
Time,
17 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Their duel is brutal and operatic, the culmination of years of tension between Cleonic brothers.—
JP Mangalindan,
Time,
12 Sep. 2025
-
Previous games have usually centered on large scale wars between nations with operatic narratives.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
12 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
There’s an awkward mix of comic highjinks and violence, melodramatic moments, dead spots and repetition.—
Pam Kragen,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
11 Sep. 2025
-
As is, the film is somehow both glancing and melodramatic, a strange and underwhelming cocktail of blasé Euro sleekness and TV-movie drama.—
Richard Lawson,
IndieWire,
7 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stagy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stagy. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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