stage direction

noun

: a description (as of a character or setting) or direction (as to indicate stage business) provided in the text of a play

Examples of stage direction in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Moments before, he’s talked briefly with the gardener, Wally (David Manis), who, according to Rosenblatt’s stage directions, is several years older and one inch taller than Dahl. —Sara Holdren, Vulture, 24 Mar. 2026

In a speculative version of this essay, those bad sentences, phrases, and paragraphs would be the work of disgruntled earthworms crawling across the pages leaving castings of errant adverbs and gestures that read like stage directions. —Literary Hub, 3 Feb. 2026

The readings are done at music stands, scripts in hands with no sets or props and a narrator reading out the stage directions. —Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 1 Feb. 2026

Seeing the global response to my specific stage direction and script was incredibly rewarding. —Matt Donnelly, Variety, 21 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1790, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for stage direction

• interconnection
• microinjection
• superinfection
• abjection
• advection
• affection
• bijection
• bisection
• collection
• complexion
• confection
• connection

Kids Definition

stage direction

noun

: a playwright's instruction to a director and actors