stagy

Or stage·y

[stey-jee]

adjective

stagier, stagiest 

1. of, relating to, or suggestive of the stage.

2. theatrical; unnatural.

stagy

/ ˈsteɪdʒɪ /

adjective

1. excessively theatrical or dramatic

Other Word Forms

• staginess noun
• stagily adverb
• unstagily adverb
• unstaginess noun
• unstagy adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of stagy¹

First recorded in 1855–60; stage + -y ¹

Example Sentences

But it seemed kind of stagy and, after a while, grew tiresome.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Every awkwardly declarative, stagy scene in “Bonhoeffer” is just a right-against-wrong equation to be answered by the title character’s virtue.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

This framing device, which has the clunky air of a middlebrow play, provides a convenient if stagy way of breaking down his biography into manageable parts.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

With the exception of James Gray’s more cinematically composed “Armageddon Time,” the movies have offered simple, stagy showcases for Hopkins, a lion in winter.

Read more on Seattle Times

An ambitious period piece given an appropriately vintage look by the cinematographer Robert Patrick Stern, “Brooklyn 45” is overlong, repetitive and at times wearyingly stagy.

Read more on New York Times

Related Words

• arty 
• exaggerated 
• grandiose 
• hollow 
• overblown 
• pompous 
• showy 
• stilted 
• turgid