variants
or stagey
1
as in theatrical
given to or marked by attention-getting behavior suggestive of stage acting
a motivational speaker whose stagy presentations motivate some listeners to head for the nearest exit
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in dramatic
having the general quality or effect of a stage performance
the president's and the prime minister's public display of mutual admiration was a little too stagy to be convincing
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of stagy
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
Ferrell just isn’t right for this part: The role is too stagy, too wordy for him, and his style of comedy is just too modern and deconstructionist to handle the Borscht Belt punning of Mel Brooks.
—Tim Grierson, Vulture, 4 Feb. 2025
Here was elegance without exaggeration, tension and beauty without stagy excess.
—James Shapiro, The New York Review of Books, 3 Jan. 2025
This framing device, which has the clunky air of a middlebrow play, provides a convenient if stagy way of breaking down his biography into manageable parts.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 9 Aug. 2024
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
The fact that the film was made inexpensively, though not a vice in and of itself, is not especially compensated for by Joe Collins’ cinematography, which renders Heffernan’s compositions flat, stagy and small.
—Todd Gilchrist, Variety, 17 Apr. 2023
The stagy devices give the impression of notions that may have seemed like brainstorms in rehearsal but in performance feel overly artificial.
—Peter Marks, Washington Post, 1 Mar. 2023
Its weapon is maximalism: with velvet tuxedos, stagy service and a love for all the props and paraphernalia of midcentury American dining.
—Pete Wells, New York Times, 28 Feb. 2023
Antonia Hitchens, New Yorker, 21 Apr. 2025
Ferrell just isn’t right for this part: The role is too stagy, too wordy for him, and his style of comedy is just too modern and deconstructionist to handle the Borscht Belt punning of Mel Brooks.
—Tim Grierson, Vulture, 4 Feb. 2025
Here was elegance without exaggeration, tension and beauty without stagy excess.
—James Shapiro, The New York Review of Books, 3 Jan. 2025
This framing device, which has the clunky air of a middlebrow play, provides a convenient if stagy way of breaking down his biography into manageable parts.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 9 Aug. 2024
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
The fact that the film was made inexpensively, though not a vice in and of itself, is not especially compensated for by Joe Collins’ cinematography, which renders Heffernan’s compositions flat, stagy and small.
—Todd Gilchrist, Variety, 17 Apr. 2023
The stagy devices give the impression of notions that may have seemed like brainstorms in rehearsal but in performance feel overly artificial.
—Peter Marks, Washington Post, 1 Mar. 2023
Its weapon is maximalism: with velvet tuxedos, stagy service and a love for all the props and paraphernalia of midcentury American dining.
—Pete Wells, New York Times, 28 Feb. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stagy
Adjective
-
The film, which is due to shoot later this year in Hungary, is being lined up for a U.S. theatrical release from Independent Film Company in 2026.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
17 May 2025
-
The directors will have their first films fully financed (to a budget of 10 million Danish Krone, or $1.45 million), with a theatrical release guaranteed for Denmark.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
17 May 2025
Adjective
-
Lowenstein examines how excessive leverage, overconfidence in mathematical models, and market forces beyond the fund's control led to one of the most dramatic financial failures in modern history.—
Robert Daugherty,
Forbes.com,
23 May 2025
-
Sirens’s ending is a solid reminder that, sometimes, the most dramatic stories can also be the most realistic.—
Caroline Framke,
Vulture,
23 May 2025
Adjective
-
Abel Tesfaye, the singer-songwriter otherwise known as the Weeknd, literally and figuratively sets his old persona on fire in Hurry Up Tomorrow, the companion film to his somber and operatic sixth studio album of the same name.—
Jessica Wang,
EW.com,
16 May 2025
-
As is so often true in operatic productions of recent decades, the default relevance setting is the era of European fascism of nearly a century ago.—
Justin Davidson,
Vulture,
13 May 2025
Adjective
-
The European Commission hit back, accusing the ECB of being melodramatic.—
Billy Bambrough,
Forbes.com,
24 Apr. 2025
-
Babygirl has some crucial hallmarks of that classic Hollywood mode: a melodramatic plot that places a morally ambiguous woman’s concerns at its center — though Babygirl’s melodrama is subdued in favor of stately psychological introspection.—
Angelica Jade Bastién,
Vulture,
25 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stagy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stagy. Accessed 30 May. 2025.
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