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

Even the [stage directions] came in this special [prose] form that Markus had found. — Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 28 Sep. 2026

There is no noise of a breaking string echoing in the distance — the stage direction that pushed Chekhov’s final dramatic landscape toward Beckettian absurdism before Beckett was born. — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2026

My original title for this novel was James Exits the Party, which sounds like a stage direction, also that’s a little glimpse into a previous iteration of the plot. — Literary Hub, 15 Sep. 2026

The killing of Comperatore adds another dead body to the hypothetical stage directions, or else marks things going hideously off-script, still without breaking the surrounding secrecy. — Harmeet Kaur, CNN Money, 23 Apr. 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