Upstage

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ʌpˈsteɪd͡ʒ/

Definitions

1. To perform toward the rear of a stage during a play while intentionally drawing attention away from another performer by outshining them
2. To move to the rear area of a stage while intentionally diverting attention from another performer to oneself and thus eclipsing their presence
3. To deliberately divert focus away from another actor by drawing more attention to oneself ; to physically shift toward the back part of a stage area

Etymology: The surprising part is that "upstage" describes a physical position before it describes a behaviour. On a raked stage, the floor slopes up toward the back, so the rear is the highest and most visible part of the set. Actors who moved toward the back could therefore pull the audience's gaze away from whoever was speaking downstage, and the word grew from that stagecraft. The name itself is simple: "up" plus "stage," with "up" marking the direction away from the audience. The figurative senses followed from that original position. "Upstage" came to mean drawing attention away from another performer, and later, a haughty or snobbish manner, as if the actor were looking down on colleagues from a higher place. Used as a verb, the word now covers any situation where someone steals the spotlight from another person at an inappropriate moment, on or off the stage.

Synonyms: outshine, outperform, overshadow

Antonyms: support, assist, encourage