fourth wall
noun
: an imaginary wall (as at the opening of a modern stage proscenium) that keeps performers from recognizing or directly addressing their audience
Examples of fourth wall in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The show is made all the more fun because characters occasionally break the fourth wall and talk directly to viewers.
—
Ew Staff, EW.com, 15 Apr. 2024
The nicest thing about doing a show like this is there is no fourth wall.
—Daniel Scheffler, SPIN, 1 Apr. 2024
In his first show back, Stewart broke the fourth wall by asking the camera operator to move closer and closer to stare at his face again.
—Jason Zinoman, New York Times, 26 Feb. 2024
The three-level home comes surrounded by abundant mango trees, comes with four bedrooms for up to eight guests, and has a fourth wall in the living room that opens to an expansive infinity pool overlooking the ocean.
—Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 24 Jan. 2024
The cat shatters the fourth wall, as cats will; Sol receives a goldfish named Nugget, which doesn’t bode well; a shy scorpion scurries into a crack; and the end credits are punctuated by drawings of various creatures.
—Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 19 Jan. 2024
Ben Hania likens the project to Brechtian theater, with her subjects breaking the fourth wall to assess the sometimes harrowing events being depicted.
—Matthew Jacobs, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Feb. 2024
Instead, the director himself volunteered to read it, breaking the fourth wall and lending the entire film a reflective, self-aware quality.
—EW.com, 16 Nov. 2023
Either way, the fourth wall is cracking, and perhaps the discomfort this might cause has been a long time coming.
—Maya Salam, New York Times, 25 Jan. 2024
Ew Staff, EW.com, 15 Apr. 2024
The nicest thing about doing a show like this is there is no fourth wall.
—Daniel Scheffler, SPIN, 1 Apr. 2024
In his first show back, Stewart broke the fourth wall by asking the camera operator to move closer and closer to stare at his face again.
—Jason Zinoman, New York Times, 26 Feb. 2024
The three-level home comes surrounded by abundant mango trees, comes with four bedrooms for up to eight guests, and has a fourth wall in the living room that opens to an expansive infinity pool overlooking the ocean.
—Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 24 Jan. 2024
The cat shatters the fourth wall, as cats will; Sol receives a goldfish named Nugget, which doesn’t bode well; a shy scorpion scurries into a crack; and the end credits are punctuated by drawings of various creatures.
—Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 19 Jan. 2024
Ben Hania likens the project to Brechtian theater, with her subjects breaking the fourth wall to assess the sometimes harrowing events being depicted.
—Matthew Jacobs, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Feb. 2024
Instead, the director himself volunteered to read it, breaking the fourth wall and lending the entire film a reflective, self-aware quality.
—EW.com, 16 Nov. 2023
Either way, the fourth wall is cracking, and perhaps the discomfort this might cause has been a long time coming.
—Maya Salam, New York Times, 25 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fourth wall.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near fourth wall
Cite this Entry
“Fourth wall.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fourth%20wall. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.
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