1 : to draw attention away from upstaging the competition. 2 : to force (an actor) to face away from the audience by staying upstage. 3 : to treat snobbishly.

Why do we use the word upstage?

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.

How do you use upstage in a sentence?

(1) The actor moved upstage away from the audience. (2) They're much too upstage for us these days. (3) Upstage and right of centre, Robert Morris stands with his back to the audience. (4) They slowly moved from upstage left into the centre.