upstage
/ʌpˈsteɪdʒ
/adverb & adjective
1At or towards the back of a theatre stage: [as adverb]: Hamlet turns to face upstage [as adjective]: an upstage exit...
- The worthy fellow travels with heavy heart all the way to Bohemia, there to abandon the babe, whereupon he exits upstage right.
- Taylor's set employs a ballet bar set diagonally upstage from down stage right.
- What I question is Zeffirelli's decision to set the action in what looks like a mix of Art Deco hotel lobby and theatre foyer, with a fake audience on stage and characters making upstage entrances through a false arch.
2 [as adjective] informal, dated Superior; aloof: this upstage reserve is rather ridiculous
verb
1 [with object] Divert attention from (someone) towards oneself: they were totally upstaged by their co-star in the film...
- Personally, I thought he was probably an attention seeker attempting to upstage me.
- Some people say the they upstaged us but we're not concerned about these things.
- Do people try to upstage the bride and turn up in purple satin wedding dresses?
2(Of an actor) move towards the back of a stage to make (another actor) face away from the audience: when he tried to upstage her she sauntered down to the front of the stage...
- The actors upstage each other, and sometimes abandon the stage altogether, as part of this approach.
- Actors find little pleasure in being upstaged.
Rhymes
- desaturation
- descale
- descaler
- descamisado
- descant
- descant clef
- descanter
- descant recorder
- descant viol
- Descartes, René
- descend
- descendability
- descendable
- descendance
- descendancy
- descendant
- descendency
- descendent
- descendental
- descendentalism
- descender
- descendeur
- descendibility
- descendible
- descending colon