fourth wall

[fawrth wawl]

noun

1. the imaginary, invisible wall, as across the front of a stage, that separates the world constructed by a play, movie, television show, video game, or literary work from the actual world inhabited by the audience.

Word History and Origins

Origin of fourth wall¹

First recorded in 1800–10

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. break the fourth wall, to violate the conventional separation between the world of a play, movie, television show, video game, or literary work and the world inhabited by the viewer.

   The actor’s periodic asides to the audience break the fourth wall and elicit much-needed laughs.

Example Sentences

“The breaking of the fourth wall has been great,” he said.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

You know the drill — characters doubly conscious of the scene they’re in and the camera that’s watching them, cutaway interviews commenting ironically on the story, a camera that catches odd events around the main action and a broken fourth wall that puts the viewer in the room.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Judges have a deep aversion to breaking the fourth wall and talking outside the four corners of a case or saying the emperor has no clothes.

Read more on Slate

Mark Joseph Stern: She’s breaking the fourth wall, which is something judges do only in case of emergency.

Read more on Slate

Infused by live music and inflected with hip-hop style poetry, “littleboy/littleman” crashes through the fourth wall to make direct contact with theatergoers, who are seated on three sides of the playing area and always just a high-five away.

Read more on Los Angeles Times