Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

All the world's a stage

Cultural  
  1. The beginning of a speech in the play As You Like It, by William Shakespeare. It is also called “The Seven Ages of Man,” because it treats that many periods in a man's life: his years as infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier, judge, foolish old man, and finally “second childishness and mere oblivion.” The speech begins: “All the world's a stage, / And all the men and women merely players….”


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

All the world’s a stage, and all the cadets are merely players.

From New York Times Mar. 9, 2023

As part of our conversation, we decided that Shakespeare was right: "All the world's a stage" and we had both played many roles.

From Salon Feb. 5, 2023

All the world’s a stage, and every house is a set wherein individuals enact their private dramas.

From Los Angeles Times Mar. 6, 2020

Facebook Twitter Pinterest All the world’s a stage: with Gwyneth Paltrow in 1998’s Shakespeare in Love.

From The Guardian May 15, 2016

"All the world's a stage," said Mrs. Hamilton.

From Poor Relations by Compton MacKenzie

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training