upstage
Other forms: upstaged; upstaging; upstages
To upstage is to steal the show. If you try to upstage your Grease costar, you'll attempt to pull the audience's attention away from him and onto you at the back of the stage doing cartwheels.
A child actor might accidentally upstage an adult simply by being adorable, or a minor character could upstage the star of a play with an amazing performance. When you upstage someone, the audience's focus shifts from that person to you. Another way to use the verb upstage is to describe the acting technique of moving back on the stage, away from the audience, so that another actor must turn her back toward them.
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at or toward the rear of the stage“the dancers were directed to move upstage”
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Antonyms:
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downstage
at or toward the front of the stage
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downstage
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steal the show, draw attention to oneself away from someone else“When the dog entered the stage, he upstaged the actress”
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type of:
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outshine
attract more attention and praise than others
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outshine
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move upstage, forcing the other actors to turn away from the audience
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treat snobbishly, put in one's place
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the rear part of the stage
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of the back half of a stage“she crossed to the upstage chair forcing the lead to turn his back to the audience”
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Antonyms:
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downstage
of the front half of a stage
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downstage
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remote in manner
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Copy citationVocabulary lists containing upstage
The Academy Awards have been presented every year since 1929. Although some changes have occurred since then – the venue and award categories – the art deco Oscar statue has remained virtually the same. Celebrate this collection of essential terms necessary for any viewer to enjoy the famous ceremony. Here are links to our lists in the collection: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5, List 6
Ten-year-old Amelia learns to cope with her noise sensitivity while learning to play music and make new friends in fifth grade.
Shy Yumi Chung dreams of being a stand-up comedian — and when a mix-up gives her access to a summer comedy camp, she might finally get her chance to shine.
Look up upstage for the last time
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