Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to upstage
Participle: upstaged
Gerund: upstaging
Cognates
-
Indicative
Present
| I | upstage |
| you | upstage |
| he;she;it | upstages |
| we | upstage |
| you | upstage |
| they | upstage |
Perfect
| I | have upstaged |
| you | have upstaged |
| he;she;it | has upstaged |
| we | have upstaged |
| you | have upstaged |
| they | have upstaged |
Past
| I | upstaged |
| you | upstaged |
| he;she;it | upstaged |
| we | upstaged |
| you | upstaged |
| they | upstaged |
Pluperfect
| I | had upstaged |
| you | had upstaged |
| he;she;it | had upstaged |
| we | had upstaged |
| you | had upstaged |
| they | had upstaged |
Future
| I | will upstage |
| you | will upstage |
| he;she;it | will upstage |
| we | will upstage |
| you | will upstage |
| they | will upstage |
Future Perfect
| I | will have upstaged |
| you | will have upstaged |
| he;she;it | will have upstaged |
| we | will have upstaged |
| you | will have upstaged |
| they | will have upstaged |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | upstage |
| you | upstage |
| he;she;it | upstage |
| we | upstage |
| you | upstage |
| they | upstage |
Perfect
| I | have upstaged |
| you | have upstaged |
| he;she;it | have upstaged |
| we | have upstaged |
| you | have upstaged |
| they | have upstaged |
Imperfect
| I | upstaged |
| you | upstaged |
| he;she;it | upstaged |
| we | upstaged |
| you | upstaged |
| they | upstaged |
Pluperfect
| I | had upstaged |
| you | had upstaged |
| he;she;it | had upstaged |
| we | had upstaged |
| you | had upstaged |
| they | had upstaged |
Conditional
Present
| I | would upstage |
| you | would upstage |
| he;she;it | would upstage |
| we | would upstage |
| you | would upstage |
| they | would upstage |
Perfect
| I | would have upstaged |
| you | would have upstaged |
| he;she;it | would have upstaged |
| we | would have upstaged |
| you | would have upstaged |
| they | would have upstaged |
Imperative
| you | upstage |
| we | Let's upstage |
| you | upstage |
Verbs conjugated like 'upstage'
abacinate,
abalienate,
abase,
abate,
abbreviate,
abdicate,
abduce,
aberrate,
aberuncate,
abirritate,
abjudge,
abjudicate,
abjugate,
abjure,
ablactate,
ablaqueate,
able,
ablegate,
abligate,
abnegate, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'upstage'
upstare,
destage,
restage,
stage,
unstate,
upscale,
upstaff,
upstand,
upstart,
upstay,
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
- to be better than
- best, better, dwarf, eclipse, exceed, excel, outclass, outdo, outmatch, outperform, outrival, outrun, outshadow, outshine, outstrip, outvie, overshadow, pass, put to shame, surpass, top, transcend, trump
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
From up- + stage. The figurative uses “haughty” and “to draw attention away” derive from actors moving to a higher and thus more visible position on a sloped stage.
Sample Sentences
-
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:]
-
The romance and spectacle of the Olympics have been upstaged by the reality of the Olympics; both the Summer Games and the Winter Games are now as much big business as they are sport. [1996, Dave Anderson, The story of the Olympics, New York: W. Morrow, →ISBN, page 10:]
-
But she did not want the name bell books—the persona or the idea in people's heads—to upstage bell hooks's ideas, and she understood that there is an unavoidable tension between the baggage a name can come to carry[…]. [2023, Naomi Klein, “Meeting Myself in the Woods”, in Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN:]
-
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 Science, →ISBN:]