Synonyms for upstage
- adjective
- verb
Most common
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Overbearing — haughty, aloof
stuck-up, overbearing, domineering, high-hat informal, haughty, arrogant, hoity-toity informal, uppity, highfalutin informal, uppish, toplofty, pompous, pretentious, supercilious, insolent, overweening, snooty slang informal, snobbish slang
Verb
1. Overshadow — to draw attention away from others, especially on-stage
Other
Definitions
- adj. 1
Haughty, aloof.
- adj. 2
At the rear of a stage.
The minimalist play used no upstage scenery.
- v. 1
To draw attention away from others, especially on-stage.
She only wore that dress to upstage everyone.
Forms
- Past participle
- upstaged
e.g. upstaged → overshadowed, eclipsed, dwarfed…
Example sentences
- overbearing Tom can be overbearing, but he's a generous man.
- distant He was going to Kabylie to see his distant family.
- aloof Tom and Mary kept aloof, watching and waiting.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| upstage | rising | |
| overbearing | rising | |
| uppish | steady | |
| distant | rising | |
| aloof | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 5 letters
- dwarf1, aloof2
- 6 letters
- uppity3, snooty2, uppish
- 7 letters
- distant2, eclipse2, pompous2, haughty2
- 8 letters
- arrogant3, insolent3, snobbish2, toplofty
- 10 letters
- overshadow4
- 11 letters
- pretentious3, overbearing4, domineering4, overweening, highfalutin4
- 12 letters
- supercilious5
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (aloof2 = 2 syllables).