variants
or stagey
stagier; stagiest
: of or characteristic of the stage
especially
: marked by pretense or artificiality : theatrical
plural -es
: the quality or state of being stagy : theatricality
Synonyms of stagy
Examples of stagy in a Sentence
Adjective
an artificial and stagy manner
a motivational speaker whose stagy presentations motivate some listeners to head for the nearest exit
Recent Examples on the Web
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
24 May 2026
Some of his jabs seemed a bit forced and stagy.
—
Los Angeles Times,
29 Apr. 2026
Sure, there’s something stagy in summing up Hart’s life via an increasingly drunken evening celebrating the premiere of his former creative partner Richard Rodgers’s (Andrew Scott) musical Oklahoma!, which will go on to be hugely successful and beloved, but which Hart can’t stand.
—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
1 Dec. 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
Here was elegance without exaggeration, tension and beauty without stagy excess.
—
James Shapiro,
The New York Review of Books,
3 Jan. 2025
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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Adjective
The auteur can now cross another genre off his bucket list with The Samurai and the Prisoner (Kokurojo), a stately and rather stagy historical mystery set during the 16th century, at a time when warring clans fought and outmaneuvered each other for control of the land.
—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
24 May 2026
Some of his jabs seemed a bit forced and stagy.
—
Los Angeles Times,
29 Apr. 2026
Sure, there’s something stagy in summing up Hart’s life via an increasingly drunken evening celebrating the premiere of his former creative partner Richard Rodgers’s (Andrew Scott) musical Oklahoma!, which will go on to be hugely successful and beloved, but which Hart can’t stand.
—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
1 Dec. 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
Here was elegance without exaggeration, tension and beauty without stagy excess.
—
James Shapiro,
The New York Review of Books,
3 Jan. 2025
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
Cite this Entry
“Stagy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stagy. Accessed 26 Jun. 2026.
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