upstage

adverb up·stage \ ˈəp-ˈstāj \

Updated on: 7 Apr 2018

Definition of upstage

1 : toward or at the rear of a theatrical stage

2 : away from a motion-picture or television camera

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First Known Use of upstage

1870

upstage

adjective

Definition of upstage

[³upstage]

: haughty

2 : of or relating to the rear of a stage

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Recent Examples of upstage from the Web

An original page from a 1974 edition of The Pittsburgh Press, an afternoon paper published from 1884 to 1992, is taped to the backside of the upstage door.

— erik piepenburg, New York Times, "Inside the ‘Jitney’ Set: Picturing Pittsburgh Onstage," 9 Feb. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'upstage.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of upstage

1918

upstage

verb up·stage \ ˌəp-ˈstāj \

Definition of upstage

transitive verb

1 : to draw attention away from

upstaging the competition

2 : to force (an actor) to face away from the audience by staying upstage

3 : to treat snobbishly

See upstage defined for English-language learners

Examples of upstage in a Sentence

We don't want the flower girl upstaging the bride.
My apple pie was upstaged by her chocolate cake.

Recent Examples of upstage from the Web

For now, Manning can focus on singing with Thomas Rhett, getting upstaged by his son at NBA games and being in commercials that throw shade at Quidditch.

— matthew vantryon, Indianapolis Star, "Peyton Manning turns down ESPN and Fox broadcast opportunities," 27 Mar. 2018
Last May Marlon made his first official appearance at an event honoring military families and clearly upstaged the vice president.

— Fox News, "March for Our Lives organizers send message to Congress," 25 Mar. 2018
But the game’s elder statesman - as far as guards were concerned, anyway - wouldn’t be upstaged.

— nick moyle, San Antonio Express-News, "UT falls to Tech, awaits fate," 8 Mar. 2018
Often a wise, warm, empathic onscreen presence, the 58-year-old Ms. Janney as LaVona was caustic and cruel, and almost upstaged by the pet bird that sat on her shoulder, pecking at her, for one extended, wickedly funny scene.

— cara buckley, New York Times, "Our Expert Predicts the Oscar Winners," 1 Mar. 2018
Freshman Jamond Vincent had a magnificent outing scoring 10 points off the bench including a jaw-dropping reverse alley-oop jam in the second quarter but was upstaged by Walker freshman Brian Thomas, the game's Most Outstanding Player.

— josh preston, NOLA.com, "Landry-Walker drops heartbreaker in OT of Class 5A title game," 4 Nov. 2017
An evolutionary theorist, he was first upstaged, then totally overshadowed, by his more ambitious colleague Charles Darwin.

— franz lidz, Smithsonian, "The Great Feather Heist," 21 Mar. 2018
He was joined by director Jorma Taccone, moderator Ramin Setoodeh from Variety, and was nearly upstaged by Haddish.

— cary darling, Houston Chronicle, "Tracy Morgan makes a big comeback at SXSW," 13 Mar. 2018
The freshman was upstaging his interview, which was only fitting on a night where the 6-foot-9 freshman stole the spotlight once again on the court.

— tyson alger, OregonLive.com, "Kenny Wooten steals the spotlight to send Oregon Ducks to Pac-12 tournament semifinal against USC," 9 Mar. 2018