How to use upstage in a sentence

16 example sentences · noun, adverb, adjective

Upstage means the part of a stage that is farthest from the audience or camera. Example: “The actor turned and walked upstage.”

Examples of upstage by meaning

adverbToward or at the rear of a theatrical stage.

The actor turned and walked upstage.

adjectiveAt the rear of a stage.

The minimalist play used no upstage scenery.

verbTo draw attention away from others, especially on-stage.

She only wore that dress to upstage everyone.
Although constantly upstaged by Miss Moore's vocal flings, Cary Grant brought the appropriate note of light comedy to his role.1973, Jerry Vermilye, Cary Grant, New York: Galahad Books, →ISBN, page 56
Ronald Reagan’s peace plan for Nicaragua, which would have worked to his domestic political advantage even if it had failed, is upstaged by a surprise initiative by five Central American countries.1987 August 17, “Peace Moves”, in Newsweek, volume 60, number 7, page 1

verbTo restage upward; to restage (a case of a disease, usually a cancer) to a higher stage than that found at last...

Almost one-third of patients were upstaged after re-exploration, three-quarters of whom actually had stage III disease.1999, “Mismanagement of ovarian cancer by laparoscopy and laparotomy”, in Laparoscopic surgery in gynaecological oncology, Blackwell...

More sentences with upstage

Allied might be upstaged by the gossip, and become best known for something other than itself.2016 November 7, Peter Bradshaw, “Allied: what happens when a film gets eclipsed by gossip”, in The Guardian. From the entry jujitsu
In The Rover, one of these esthetically important elements was the arrangement of the upstage drops.2007, Michele Fields, Designing The Rover (unpublished M.F.A. dissertation), Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin–Madison, →OCLC. From the entry drop
If you want to stop sucking, put more power below the neck, or your skull will always upstage you."2009, Lisi Harrison, Alphas #1, page 75. From the entry bobbleheaded
La Cage's upstage drops include two of the St.1983, Theatre Crafts, New York, N.Y.: Theatre Crafts Associates, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 61, column 1. From the entry drop
Again, the crosslight is best designed to angle slightly upstage taking care not to produce shadows on backings.1967, Jerry J. Lewis, An Approach to Lighting Design from Modern Dance, page 11. From the entry crosslight
Al then schlumped upstage to the piano to talk with a man who could do anything asked of him. (Theater accompanists are an amazing lot.2015, Stevie Phillips, Judy & Liza & Robert & Freddie & David & Sue & Me…, St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, page 167. From the entry schlump
Though somewhat upstaged by the physical scale and lavishness of the Court's allegorical megawomen, Columbus (in imaginative reconstruction) played a key conceptual role in that exalted venue.2018, Mary Ann Calo, Critical Issues In American Art: A Book Of Readings. From the entry megawoman
In the event, Carlton′s ‘worm’, Alex Jesaulenko, was comprehensively upstaged by his croweater rival, Barrie Robran, who in the end probably proved the decisive difference between the two sides.2009, John P. Devaney, Full Points Footy: Encyclopedia of Australian Football Clubs, page 328. From the entry croweater
Both figures looked upstage at the model of a white statue which pointed down at them with the accusing finger of an Italian traffic policeman or wartime recruiting poster.1991 September, Stephen Fry, “[Prelude to chapter 1]”, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section, page 2. From the entry accusing
When tournament players are eliminated but remain eager to win back their buy-in, side games often develop and upstage tournament play with limits exceeding those in the tournament.1983, David M. Hayano, Poker faces: the life and work of professional card players. From the entry buy-in

Meaning of upstage

noun The part of a stage that is farthest from the audience or camera.
adverb Toward or at the rear of a theatrical stage.
adverb Away from the audience or camera.

Full definition of upstage

Questions about upstage in a sentence

How do you use upstage in a sentence?: Upstage is used as a noun, adverb and adjective. For example: “The actor turned and walked upstage.”
What is a short sentence with upstage?: “The actor turned and walked upstage.”
What does upstage mean?: Upstage means the part of a stage that is farthest from the audience or camera.

Adapted from Wiktionary: upstage (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use upstage in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/upstage. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.