upstage

American  

[uhp-steyj] / ˈʌpˈsteɪdʒ /

adverb

1. on or toward the back of the stage.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or located at the back of the stage.

2. haughtily aloof; supercilious.

verb (used with object)

upstaged, upstaging

1. to overshadow (another performer) by moving upstage and forcing the performer to turn away from the audience.

2. to outdo professionally, socially, etc.

3. to behave snobbishly toward.

noun

1. the rear half of the stage.

2. any stage position to the rear of another.

upstage British  

/ ˈʌpˈsteɪdʒ /

adverb

1. on, at, or to the rear of the stage

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adjective

1. of or relating to the back half of the stage

2. informal haughty; supercilious; aloof

verb

1. to move upstage of (another actor), thus forcing him to turn away from the audience

2. informal to draw attention to oneself from (someone else); steal the show from (someone)

3. informal to treat haughtily

noun

1. the back half of the stage

Etymology

Origin of upstage

First recorded in 1905–10; up- + stage

Explanation

To upstage is to steal the show. If you try to upstage your Grease costar, you'll attempt to pull the audience's attention away from him and onto you at the back of the stage doing cartwheels. A child actor might accidentally upstage an adult simply by being adorable, or a minor character could upstage the star of a play with an amazing performance. When you upstage someone, the audience's focus shifts from that person to you. Another way to use the verb upstage is to describe the acting technique of moving back on the stage, away from the audience, so that another actor must turn her back toward them.

Example Sentences

Hoping to upstage Ryder Cup team-mates McIlroy and Rose, Lowry will enter the final round just two back after a rollercoaster 68 that featured a glorious hole-in-one at the sixth.

From BBC • Apr. 11, 2026

Instead, there is smoke and vivid use of light—in the most dramatic sequences, such as the fire, a wall-size blaze of color angles forward from a bank of instruments on the floor upstage.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 22, 2025

On the day of the event, she said, she and her friends weren’t there to provoke Kirk, or to upstage him.

From Slate • Oct. 30, 2025

Stanton: There are hundreds of fireflies in the background, on the video screens, upstage and scattered throughout the house.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2025

My mother, who I thought had every right under the sun to bask in the glory of my success, was, on the contrary, willing to let my father upstage her.

From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane

Related Words

• overshadow