soapbox
Americannoun
adjective
noun
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a box or crate for packing soap
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a crate used as a platform for speech-making
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a child's homemade racing cart consisting of a wooden box set on a wooden frame with wheels and a steerable front axle
Etymology
Origin of soapbox
Explanation
A soapbox is anything a public speaker stands on to address a crowd. A first grader giving a speech on the playground in favor of longer recess might use her lunchbox as a soapbox. The original soapboxes were just that — wooden boxes originally holding bars of soap (in the days before cardboard). Just before World War I, street speeches were common, and speakers often used soapboxes to raise themselves above their audience. Since then, "on a soapbox" has become a metaphor for "expressing very strong opinions about a topic." If you lecture your meat-loving family about vegetarianism again, they might tell you to shut up and get off your soapbox.
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.
They were all represented in soapbox carts that participated in the Red Bull Soapbox Race that made its way through the streets of downtown Los Angeles Saturday.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 17, 2026
It’s a free soapbox that forces management to address issues they’d rather not discuss.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 16, 2026
The BID has hosted a soapbox derby, an autumn festival, and a "dino day", where actors dress up as dinosaurs and walk around the town to entertain children.
From BBC ● Jan. 3, 2025
A sturdy and symbolic soapbox for speeches on liberty.
From Slate ● Nov. 28, 2024
As for the park itself, it was an American version of a Middle Eastern bazaar, with folk singers, storytellers, beggars, political dissidents, soapbox orators, and even the occasional snake charmer.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
