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
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Director Luca Guadagnino addresses the final scene of the movie and his decision to break the fourth wall. Gerrad Hall, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Oct. 2025 For an interlocutor, the movie pairs him with an American journalist (Michael Chernus) who frequently breaks the fourth wall to describe the difficulty of what Jarrett was doing: inventing music by himself in real time every night. Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025 As Jost froze in character, Johnson’s Trump broke the fourth wall and did a bit of riffing on the Weekend Update co-host. Ted Johnson, Deadline, 4 Oct. 2025 Athenian stage comedy routinely often broke the fourth wall to comment on current politics to the politicians sitting right in front of them. Toni Fitzgerald, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for fourth wall

Word History

First Known Use

1807, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of fourth wall was in 1807

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Cite this Entry

“Fourth wall.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fourth%20wall. Accessed 25 Oct. 2025.

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