onstage

American  

[on-steyj, awn-] / ˈɒnˈsteɪdʒ, ˈɔn- /

adverb

1. on or onto the stage (opposed to offstage).

   The director shouted, “Onstage, everybody!”

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or used in the acting area, or that part of the stage that is in view of the audience.

Etymology

Origin of onstage

First recorded in 1925–30; on + stage

Explanation

When you do something onstage, you do it in front of an audience. Onstage tap dancing can be exhilarating to watch if the dancers are good, or embarrassing if they're not. An onstage mistake, like a forgotten line or a dropped prop, can sometimes be concealed by quick-thinking actors. Your role in the school play might turn out not to have any lines at all, but to involve your character lurking around onstage looking mysterious. The opposite of onstage is offstage, meaning things that occur where the audience can't see them.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

onstage

Huang recalled thinking, speaking onstage in San Francisco in July.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026

Graham’s campaign was a gaffe-filled slog culminating in a stunning debate answer in which she stated onstage, “National security is not my thing.”

From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2026

In 2011, he was a contestant for China's Got Talent - clips posted online showed him singing onstage blindfolded.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

Unhappily what takes place onstage has little more dramatic heft and is almost as untethered to plausibility as the plot of a Meyers rom-com.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

She had spent weeks preparing herself to do this with Anat, to film this specific costume, the last one Molly ever wore onstage.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny